
(ilass _ _s.^lU • : 

Book ' ) (^ ^- 



•7 



(X>PYR1GHT D£P08i r 



Cotton and Cdttbii Oil. 



COTTON. 

Planting, Cultivating, Harvesting and Preparation for Market. 

COTTON SEED OIL MILLS. 

Organization, Construction and Operation. 

CATTLE FEEDING. 

Production of Beef and Dairy Products. Cotton Seed Meal and 
Hulls as Stock Feed. 

FERTILIZERS. 

Manufacture, Manipulation and Uses. 



FULL INFORMATION FOR INVESTOR, STUDENT AND 
PRACTICAL MECHANIC. 



PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL DRAWINGS. 



By D. A. TOMPKINS, 



AVTHOR OF 

Cotton Mill Processes and Calculations; Cotton Mill Commercial Features: 
American Commerce, Its Expansion; Cotton Values in Textile Fabrics. 



CHARLOTTE, N. C: 
Published by the Author. 
1901. 



THE LIBRARY OF 


CONGRESS. 


Two Copifcs 


Received 


AUG. 1 


1901 


Copyright enthv 
CLASS *^XXc. N«. 


//o 


ss 


COPY 


B 1 



Copyright 1901 

BY 

D. A. Tompkins. 



Presses Observer Printing House, 
Charlotte, N. C. 



preface. 

I was born on a cotton plantation in South Carolina in 
1852, and lived on it continuously until 1867. In subse- 
quent years I was from time to time on the plantation, and 
thus have been in good contact Vv'ith cotton planting before, 
during and after the Civil War. 

I was educated and trained as an engineer. In the pur- 
suit of my profession, I have designed and had charge of 
the construction of many cotton mills, cotton seed oil mills, 
and fertilizer works. 

This volume, Cotton and Cotton Oil, is based on the 
experience acquired on the plantation and in the exe>- 
cution of these various engineering and industrial works. 
The matter is put in book form as the best means of keep- 
ing together the valuable results of the work, and for what 
value the records may be to the present and succeeding 
generations, who may be interested in these subjects. 

D. A. Tompkins. 
Charlotte, N. C. July 15, 1901. 



Contente. 

CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY.— 

Origin of cotton planting in United States. History 
previous to invention of saw gin. Influence of roller 
gin. Influence of saw gin. Table showing production 
and price from 1790 to 1900. Mutual influence cot- 
ton planting and slavery. The Civil War. Cotton 
planting with free labor. Present magnitude. 

PART I. COTTON. 

CHAPTER II. 

INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN.— 

First step: \\''ooden cylinder with spikes, by Eli 
Whitney. Second step: Saw gin, by Hodgen 
Holmes. Certified copies of patents. Georgia suits 
for infringement of patent right. Royalties paid 
Whitney by Southern States. 

CHAPTER III. 

PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR THE MARKET 
WITH SLAVE LABOR.— 

Early gins. Early gin houses with horse power. The 
wooden screw press. Improved methods and ma- 
chines. Hauling bales of cotton 25 miles to market. 



VI. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.— 

General organization of plantation. Home products 
and economy. Amusements on the plantation. Com- 
bination of work and play. The master. The over- 
seer. The slave. Plantation during the war. Loyalty 
of the slave to the master and master to slave. 

CHAPTER V. 

PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR THE MARKET 
AS AIODIFIED BY THE ABOLITION OF SLAV- 
ERY.— 

White man meets new conditions and adapts himself. 
Improved machinery. Labor saving inventions. In- 
creased production. 

CHAPTER VI. 
MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY.— 

History of improvements on gin. Evolution of the 
gin house. Intermediate stages. Present types. 
Round bale. Compresses. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PLANTING. CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING 
COTTON.— 

Preparation of ground Time to plant. Chopping out. 
Plowing. Fertilizing. Impleiments of culture. 
Insect enemies. Picking- and harvesting:. 



Vll. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
MARKETING COTTOX.— 

Ante-bellum factor methods. Post-bellum methods. 
^Middle men. Exporting. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE PLAXTATIOX, DURIXG AXD AFTER THE 
CIVIL WAR.— 

With slave labor. With emancipated negro labor. 
Methods of paying laborers. Renters, tenants, crop- 
pers, day wages. Influence of cotton factories. Influ- 
ence of cotton oil mills. Xeighboring manufacturing 
enterprises make farming more attractive. Farm 
lands increasing in value. 

PART II. COTTON OIL. 

CHAPTER X. 
COTTOX SEED.— 

Constituent elements, oil, meal, lint, hulls. Micro- 
scopic study of seed. Varieties and their relative 
values to oil mills. 

CHAPTER XI. 
COTTOX SEED OIL, COMMERCIAL FEATURES.— 

History of oil milling. Purchasing seed. Uses made 
of various products. Value of products. Markets 
for products. Packages for products. Table show- 
ing quantities and values of products for 30 years. 



Vlll. 

CHAPTER XII. 

COTTON SEED OIL, MECHANICAL FEATURES. 
AND PROCESSES.— 

Detailed description of each machine and its opera- 
tions. Table showing speed and power for each ma- 
chine. Quality of raw material and its relation to fin- 
ished products. Mill buildings. How to reduce fire 
risks by proper construction. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
COTTON SEED OIL REFINING.— 

Chemical considerations. Mechanical considerations. 
Old methods. Present practice. Variety of finished 
products. By products. Suitable buildings. vStorage 
tanks. 

PART HI. CORRELATED INDUSTRIES. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CATTLE FEEDING.— 

Early experiments. Government investigations. 
Growth in the Southwest. Introduction into the South- 
east. Varieties of cattle for feeding. Markets for 
fatted cattle. Transportation of cattle. By products. 



IX. 

CHAPTER XV. 

FERTILIZERS.— 

Composition and uses. Manipulating and mixing on 
the farm. Raw materials. Manipulating and mixing 
at small oil mills. Cotton seed meal as a raw material. 
Experiment station w^ork. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

FERTILIZER MANUFACTURE.— 

Chemical considerations. Mechanical considerations. 
Machinery. Raw materials. Phosphate rock. Pebble 
phosphate. Sulphuric acid in its relation to fertili- 
zers. Manufacture of sulphuric acid. 

APPENDIX. 

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO INVENTION OF 
COTTON GIN. TABLES AND MISCELLANY.— 

Verbatim court records in cotton gin cases. Theory of 
cattle feeding. Sundry notes on cattle feeding. 



Xi9t of HUuetratione- 



I — Whitney's Original jModel of Gin. 

2 — Madison's Certification of Original Gin Patent 

Sheets. 
3 — Whitney's Original Certified Patent Drawing. 
4 — Drawing Accompanying the Whitney Substituted 

Patent. 
5 — Drawing Accompanying the Whitney Substituted 

Patent. 
6 — Certification of Whitney Patents. 
7 — Certification of Bill of Injunction in Patent Suits. 
8 — Certification of Holmes Gin Patent. 
9 — Eli W^hitney's Autograph. 
lo — Whitney's Spike Gin, Intermittent Action. 
II — Holmes' Saw Gin, Continuous Acticii. 
12 — Old Plantation Gin House and Screw. 
13 — Old Horse Power for Gin House. 
14 — Hauling Cotton to Market. 
15 — Steam Power Applied to Old Gin House. 
16 — Early Steam Ginnery. 
The Plantation Home. 
1 7 — Spinning \Vheel. 
18 — ^Portable Ginnery. 
19 — Improved Ginnery. 
20 — Roller Gin. 
21 — Section of Saw Gin. 
22 — Perspective of Saw Gin. 
23 — Huller Gin. 
24 — Gin Driven from Below. 
25 — Improved Ginnery. 
26 — Ginnery with Suction Apparatus. 
27 — Ginnery with Storage Bins. 
28 — Texas Ginnery. 
29 — Old Gin House and Screw. 



Xll. 



30 — Modern Screw Cotton Press. 

31 — Steam Cotton Press. 

32 — Cotton Compress with Knuckle Joints. 

2,;^ — Ginnery Compress, Square Bale, 

34 — Ginnery Compress, Cylindrical Lap Bale. 

35 — Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 

36 — Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 

2,7 — Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 

38 — Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 

39 — Three Kinds of Cotton Bales. 

40 — Cotton "Square" and Cotton Bloom. 

41 — Cotton Bolls. 

42 — Cotton Bolls, 

43 — Negro and Plow. 

44 — Sundry Plow Points, 

45 — Sundry Plow Points. 

46 — Plow and Hoe. 

47 — Fertilizer Distributor and Guano Horn. 

48 — Cotton Planting Machine. 

49 — Sub-soiling Plow. 

50 — Gang Plow for Cultivating Cotton. 

51 — Sulky Plow for Cultivating Cotton, 

52 — Disc Cultivator for Cotton. 

53 — Cotton Stalk Cutter. 

54 — Cotton Field at the End of the Day. 

55 — Method of Picking Cotton. 

56 — Experimental Cotton Picking Machine ; Rear View, 

57 — Experimental Cotton Picking Machine; Front View. 

58— Cotton Market, 

59 — Cotton Sampler's Table. 

60 — Cotton Planting Syndicate — Planter, Negro, Mule. 

61 — Cotton Seed, Showing How Lint Grows, 

62 — Cross Section of Cotton Seed ]\Iagnified 12^ times. 

63— General View 150-Ton Oil Mill,' 1S85. 

64 — Arrangement of Machinery, 150-Ton Oil Mill, 1885. 

65— General View 200-Ton Oil Mill, 1887. 

66— General View 100-Ton Oil Mill, 1890. 



6/ — Arrangement of Machinery, 40-Ton Oil Mill, 1901. 

68 — Right and Left Hand Conveyors. 

69 — Wooden Boxes for Conveyors. 

70 — Right Angle Conveyor Drive. 

71 — Sprocket Chain Elevators. 

y2 — Sand and Boll Screen. 

73 — End Section Sand and Boll Screen. 

74 — Section Through Cotton Seed Linter. 

75 — General View Cotton Seed Linter. 

76 — Linter Room in Oil Mill. 

yy — Cotton Seed Huller. 

78 — Secti(3n Through Huller. 

79 — Cotton Seed Huller. 

80 — Section Through Huller. 

81 — Huller Feeder. 

82 — Separating Conveyor. 

83 — Diagram Serpentine Drive for Rolls. 

84 — Five-High Serpentine Rolls. 

85 — Diagram Tandem Drive for Four-High Rolls. 

86 — Diagram Tandem Drive for Five-High Rolls. 

87 — Four-High Tandem Rolls. 

88 — Diagram Tandem Drive with Tightener, Five-High 

Rolls. 
89 — Five-High Geared Rolls. 
90 — Heaters with Gang Under Drive. 
91 — Heaters with Independent Parallel Lender Drive. 
92 — Heaters with Overhead Drive. 
93 — Presses, Former and Heaters with Independent Right 

Angle Drive. 
94 — Triple Heaters. 
95 — Section Through Triple Heaters. 
96 — Steam Cake Former. 
97 — Interior of Oil Mill Press Room. 
98 — Interior of Oil Mill Press Room. 
99 — Oil Press, Showing Valves. 
100 — Oil Press in Section, 
loi — Oil Press, Showing Hydraulic Packing. 



XIV. 



I02 — Mold for Making Hydraulic Packing. 

103 — Hydraulic Steam Pump. 

104 — Hydraulic Accumulators. 

105 — Hydraulic Press Valve. 

106 — Old Style Automatic Change Valve. 

107 — New Style Automatic Change \^alve. 

108 — Pump and Press Connections. 

109 — Hydraulic Power Pump. 

no — Cake Cracker. 

Ill — Attrition Meal Mill. 

1 1 2 — General View of Cotton Oil Refinery. 

113 — Plan and Section Cotton Oil Refinery. 

114 — Cotton Oil Filter Press. 

115 — Interior Cattle Shed. 

116 — Exterior of Cattle Shed. 

117 — Feeding Cattle in the Open. 

118— Type of Good Beef Steer. 

119 — Type of Scrub Beef Steer. 

120 — Type of Good Milk Cow. 

121 — ^Type of Good Butter Cow\ 

122 — Type of Scrub Cow. 

123 — Cycle of Production, Consumption and Land Resto- 
ration. 

124 — Fertilizer Mixer. 

125 — General View Sulphuric Acid Chamber. 

126 — Plan and Section Sulphuric Acid Chamber. 

127 — Section Fertilizer Factory. 

Two Colored Plates, Showing Different Types of Negroes. 

Three Colored Plates, Showing Different Stages of 
Growth of Cotton PlaAt. 

Map Showing Quarantine Line for Texas or Splenetic Fe- 
ver in Cattle. 



CHAPTER I. 

llntrobuction. 

For the ancient history of cotton, dating i,ooo years 
before Christ, the practical man of to-day cares very little. 
Even the minor details of its introduction into the United 
States possesses only historical interest and this will be 
taken up only to illustrate the evolution of the industry. 

The early colonists naturally experimented on their new 
found soil with all of the divers seeds that they could ob- 
tain from all parts of the earth. Thus, cotton became an 
early experimental crop, beginning in Virginia about the 
year lOoo, and continuing in all of the Southern latitudes 
for nearly two hundred years before it came to be seriously 
regarded as a useful crop. 

During this epoch a great army oi hand weavers had 
sprung up in England, and it was becoming a serious 
problem wdth them to get yarn to weave. 

In all times and places, wdien there is a serious demand 
for any invention, the genius of the age soon develops and 
perfects that invention. In 1767 James Hargreaves in- 
vented in England the spinning jenny, by which one op- 
erative could run as many as twenty spindles, instead of 
one, as theretofore. This w^as successively improved by 
Arkwright and Crompton in England and others, so that 
it soon became an easy matter to provide yarn for the 
hand weavers. After the power loom had been intro- 
duced by Cartwright also in England in 1785, the world's 
consumption of all kinds of yarn became immensely in- 
creased, and thus the demand for raw textile fibres was a 
constantly growing one. 

The American colonists took a growing interest in cot- 
ton production, and made every effort to meet the de- 
mand from the mother country, and also the new demands 
■of the new independent colonies. 



2 INTRODUCTION. 

Ill 1786 Governor Tattnal, of Georgia, received sotiie 
Sea Island seed from the Bahama Islands, and encouraged 
its production in the coast region. 

About the same time, a Airs. Burden, of South Caro- 
lina, promoted its growth on the sea islands of that State. 

Several difficulties prevented the rapid spread of cotton 
culture in those days. Scarcity of labor in the new coun- 
tiy, for the tedious process of harvesting or "picking- 
was an important factor; but the prime difficulty was in 
separating the useful lint from the then useless seed. 
This work was done entirely by hand until the ancient 
roller gin was brought over. 

A. Mr. Duhreuil, oi Louisiana, is said t(j have had one 
of the first gins of any kind in America. x\ more practical 
machine seems to have been introduced from the Bahama 
Islands by Dr. Joseph Eve, of Augusta, Ga., about the 
same time (1790). He is reported to have been the first 
to run a gin by power. 

As the colonists gradually found their way inland, the 
character of the cotton which they continued to plant, 
changed from the Sea Island varieties, and began to de- 
velop a well marked type known as "upland." The seeds of 
upland cotton were even more difficult to separate than the 
other varieties, so that, although plantation labor began 
to be more plentiful l\v the importation of slaves, the 
growth of cotton could not become an extensive industry 
until a machine could be perfected fgr the separation of 
the seeds. 

As in the invention of other machmery, a crying neces- 
sity stimulated inventive genius. The roller gin was al- 
ready in use. and worked well for Sea Island cotton. In 
1793, Eli Whitney, then living near Savannah, Ga., in 
vented a cotton gin, comprising m?ny of the features of 
the gin now in use for upland cotton. In 1794 he ob- 
tained his patent. In 1795 Hodgen Holmes, of Augusta. 
Ga.. invented the saw gin, an improvement on Whitnev's 
machine. In 1796 he obtained his patent. Thus in the 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

period from 1793 to 1796. the saw i^in Ijecame a standard 
machine, and an epoch maker in the history of cotton. 

Tlie first power saw gin, which is to say the first real 
practical and pro(hictive gin in the world was made l)y 
Hotlgen Holmes and was run by water power in Fairfield 
county. South Carolina, by Mr. James Kincaid in 1795. 

The details of the invention of the saw gin are fully set 
forth in another chapter. 

The etTect of this invention upon the cotton production 
of the country was wonderful. As soon as a few of these 
machines could be made and put upon the market, it was 
seen that with the available labor it w^as easy to increase 
the cotton production many fold. 

In 1790 the production of cotton w^as ec[uivalent to 
3,000 bales of 500 pounds each, and in 1798. about the 
time the use of saw gins became general, the ])roduction 
was increased to an equivalent of about 30,000 bales of 
500 pounds each. At this time cotton was put up in bales 
or bags weighing about 225 pounds each. For the pur- 
pose of comparison, all statistics in this book have been 
reduced to our present average bale of 500 pounds gross. 

It soon became apparent that the productiveness of the 
soil would justify much more cotton planting than the 
available labor could handle, even wi« h the help of the cot- 
ton gin. This idea fostered a great importation of negro 
slaves, and thus the growth of slavery and the increase of 
the cotton crop were simultaneous, each being sustained 
by the other. This material result was in opposition to a 
strong sentiment against slavery*. 

The cotton crops steadily increased oh this basis, build- 
ing up and enriching an agricultural ]>opulation wdiich be- 
came an aristocracy in the Southern United States. The 
cotton crop had grow^n to 4,000,000 bales in 1861, being 
mostly produced by the labor of the 4.000,000 slaves. 

From 1 86 1 to 1865 the Civil War interfered with agricul- 
tural operations so that the average annual production 
during that period was reduced to a half million bales. 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

The Civil War resulted in the abolition of slavery. The 
ill-advised enfranchisement of the slaves who were led by 
dishonest adventurers, induced a condition of political and 
industrial disorder. This condition retarded the recovery 
of the cotton growing- States from the disastrous effects 
of the war; and hence it required about ten years after the 
war for the cotton planters to again reach a production 
of 4,000,000 bales. Since that time, the crop has contin- 
ually increased, reaching to nearly 10,000,000 bales m 
1900. as exhibited by the following table: 



INTRODUCTION. 



TABLE I. 



SHOWING THE PRODUCTION AND PRICE OF 
COTTON FROM 1790 TO 1900. 

No Bales Price Per Lb 

Year 500 Lbs. Gross in New York. 

1790 3,000 260 

1 791 4,200 26.0 

1792 6,300 29.0 

,1793 10,400 32.0 

1794 16,700 33.0 

1795 16700 36.5 

1796 20.800 36.5 

1797 22,900 34-0 

1798 31-200 39.0 

1799 41,600 440 

1800 73,000 28.0 

1810 177,000' 16.0 

,1820 331.500 170 

1830 689,800 lo.o 

.1840 1,737,700 8.9 

.1850 2,085,800 12.3 

i860 4,668,900 ii.o 

1865 250,000 80.0 

,1870 2,862,300 24.C 

1880 5,449,200 12.0 

1890 7,311,400 II. 5 

1900 9,436,400 8.7 

Continued economies in the cost of production, and 
continued demand for cotton .snoods, together with a 
great increase of cotton mill building in the cotton pro- 
ducing States will no doubt lead to still further expansion 
of the crop to perhaps 15,000,000 within the next decade. 

Coincident with the upbuilding of the cotton growing 



6 INTRODUCTION. 

industry to such proportions, there has been great ac- 
tivity in the production of mechanical devices for the 
preparation and handling of the crop. 

The separate discussion of these various devices and 
their influence on the scope and character of cotton pro- 
duction furnishes the theme for the most of Part I., of this 
book. 

TABLE II. 

SHOWING CHRONOLOGY OF SOME EVENTS 
RELATING TO COTTON. 

1600. — Introduction of cotton into Virginia. 

1730. — John W'yatt spins first cottoii by machinery in 
England. 

1738. — John Kay invents the fly shuttle. 

1767. — James Hargreaves invents spinning jenny. 

1769. — Richard Arkwright invents drawing rolls fnr 
spinning machine. 

1776. — Samuel Crompton invents nuile jenny. 

1785. — Edmund Cartwright invents power loom. 

1787. — First cotton mill in Beverly. Mass. 

1790. — First cotton mill in Pawtucket, R. I. 

1794. — Eli Whitney invents cotton gin. 

1796. — Hodgen Holmes invents saw gin. 

1796. — First cotton mill in Statesburg, S. C. 

1813. — First cotton mill in Lincolnton, N. C. 



Part 1. 



COTTON. 



CHAPTER II. 

Cbc llnvention of the Saw (3in. 

Much as has been written on the subject of the invention 
of the saw cotton gin, the question as to the credit for fun- 
damental ideas, and their development into a commercial 
machine, seems yet to lack authoritative discussion. 

It is so easy tO' collate a large amount of matter fron-i 
writers, who themselves have copied the works of others, 
purporting to relate history, that it is small wonder that 
well nigh as many errors as facts should have been frequenc- 
ly copied and re-copied. This seems to be especially the 
case in America concerning the cotton gin, on acount of its 
being an American invention of such note, and of compar- 
atively recent date. 

Crude cotton as it is produced in the held, consists of 
fluffy masses of cotton lint adhering to seeds. It is cal'e(,i 
in this condition "seed cotton." The varieties of cotton 
may be divided into twO' general classes; "Upland" and 
''Sea Island." This distinction is based mainly on the 
length of the fibre or "staple" the former having fibres va- 
rying from f to 1 1 inches and the latter from i-J to 2} 
inches. The lint of upland cotton adheres very firmh' to 
the seeds, appearing to grow out of it like w^ool from a 
sheep's back. The seeds, after being denuded of lint as 
well as possible, still have a wooll}- appearance. In a great 
many sub-varieties the seeds are green in color, thus givirg 
to upland cotton, in general, the name "green-seed cot- 
ton," as distinguished from Sea Island cotton, whose seeds 
are black. Sea Island, or long staple cotton does not ad- 
here so closely to the seeds, and it can be easily pulled off 
clean, leaving the seeds perfectly smootli. These seeds are 
vulgarly called "bald-headed seed." 

A gin is a machine for separating lint cotton from the 
seed. The word gin is supposed to be a contraction or 
engine, and the word has been used to indicate a number of 



lO THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

contrivances for doing work, such as hoisting, etc., on 
the same reasoning that in England at the present time, 
the machine in use for carding cotton is known as the card- 
ing engine. 

Recent usage, especially in America, has restricted the 
use of the word engine to mean some prime mover, and the 
use of the word gin to mean cotton gin. 

The term cotton, as commercially used in the United 
States, refers generally to upland cotton, that being the 
kind mostly produced. When Sea Island Cotton is refen-ed 
to, it is specially mentioned. In the same way the tenn 
"gin" is used to designate the saw gin, which is the partic- 
ular kind in use with upland cotton. The machine used for 
separating Sea Island cotton from the seed is known as the 
"roller gin." 

The saw gin has a saw cylinder, made up of circular saws, 
spaced by collars on a mandrel or shaft. The saws project 
into a breast box, through grooves or ribs set close enough 
together to prevent the passage of seed. The teeth pull the 
lint through the ribs and leave seed behind. Revolving in 
an opposite direction to the saw- toothed cylinder, parallel 
to it, and in a contiguous box, is another cylinder covered 
with bristles, which brushes the lint out of the teeth and 
delivers it into a room or into a condenser. The brush 
cylinder revolves 4 or 5 times as fast as the saw cylinder. 

The first method of separating lint from the seed was 
naturally by hand picking. The next method, originating 
in India about 300 B. C, was by means of rollers, which 
running closely together, would pull the lint through and 
leave the seed behind. 

The roller gin now in use for ginning sea island cotton is 
a modern development from this India gin. 

As most of the ancient Eastern cottons were of the 
black seed varieties, the roller gin was fairly successful, 
though the seeds would often become cracked between the 
rollers and pass on through and mix v/ith the lint. The 
seeds contain considerable water and nitrogenous matter. 



THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. II 

SO that those crushed are Hal^le to decay, and thus to give 
to Hnt cotton prepared in this manner a foul odor. 

During the War of the American Revolution, and imme- 
diately thereafter, cotton culture began to receive consi*.:- 
erable attention in the Southern States. As the coahl 
country was the first to be settled; and as the valuable Sea 
Island varieties grew to perfection on that soil, these were 
first cultivated. They were prepared for market by hand, 
and by the roller gins, both processes being very slow. 
The roller gin then in use would clean about 5 times ;.s 
much cotton per day as could be cleaned by hand. 

When upland \arieties began to be cultivated further 
inland where Sea Island would not grow, the roller gir. 
proved entirely inadequate and unsuitable, so that the ex- 
tension of cotton growing soon reached its limit. In many 
cases, it surpassed the limit, and much cotton was wasted 
for want of being separated from its seed, and made ready 
for market. 

In 1792, Eli Whitney of Massachusetts went by boat to 
Savannah, Ga., from which place he intended to go into the 
interior as tutor in a private family. On the same boat was 
traveling Mrs. Nathaniel Greene, the widow of the Ameri- 
can Revolutionary General, who was returning from a 
Northern trip to her home at Mulbert y (jrove, near Savan- 
nah, Ga. On this journey Whitney naturally made the ac- 
quaintance of Mrs. Greene. Arriving in Savannah, he failed 
to perfect his arrangement for teaching and accepted an in- 
vitation from Mrs. Nathaniel Greene to make his home at 
her house and pursue the study of law. which was his grea; 
desire. 

While he was in Mrs. Greene's house he exhibited great 
talent for mechanics, and made himself useful in that re- 
spect around the plantation. 

In the spnng of 1793, some old comrades of General 
Greene: Majors Brewer, Forsythe and Pendleton, whc 
lived near Augusta, Ga.. called on Mrs. Greene. In the 
course of their visit they discussed the troubles of agricul- 
ture in the upper country, and mentioned the fact th.-'.t 



12 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

much upland cotton could be protitably produced if there 
were only some machine for separating- the lint f rom the 
seed. Mrs. Greene proposed that they talk over the mat- 
ter with young Whitney. The result of that visit was that 
Whitney was given a room in the basement of the house, 
and after considerable experimenting, produced a machine 
that successfully separated the lint from seed. 

Fig. I is copied fro-m an old print which is said to repre- 
sent Whitney's original model. This is not an official 
record, but it is confirmed by compaiison with the patent 
drawing. Fig. 3. 

In 1793 Whitney went to New Haven, Conn., to confer 
with his old friend and patron, Elizur Goodrich and others, 
in relation to obtaining a patent. 

The original description in Whitney's own words, accom- 
panying his petition for patent was filed with Thomas Jef- 
ferson, Secretary of State at Philadelphia, June 20, 1793. 
Whitney also made affidavit concerning his invention be- 
fore Elizur Goodrich, Notary Public, and Alderman of 
New Haven, Conn., Oct. 28, 1793. 

A patent was issued to Eli Whitney March 14, 1794, and 
signed by George Washington, President, Edmund Ran- 
dolph, Secretary of State and Wm. Bradford, Attorney 
General. 

During some litigation over validity of the patent in the 
United States District Court in Savannah, Georgia, 1804 
a copy of the complete patent and specification and drav/- 
ing was filed with the court. This copy was certified bv 
James Madison, Secretary of State, April 27, 1804, as 
shown by Fig. 2. 

This copy, taken from the records of the Court, is given 
verbatim in the Appendix, marked Document H. Fig. 3 
is a photograph of the drawing, accompanying this cerri- 
fied patent, and Fig. 6 is the certification of the whole set 
by the Deputy Clerk of the United States Court. 

These documents are now on file in the United States 
Court House, Savannah, Ga., and are believed to be the 
only authentic records of this patent in existence. The 




Fig. I 
Whitney's Original Model. 



14 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

original patent papers tiled in the Patent Office by Whit- 
ney in 1793, were destroyed by the Patent Office tire in 
T836. See Appendix, Document IV. As soon as possible 
after this hre, the authorities made efforts to obtain co])ies 
of all papers that were destroyed. It so hajjpened. how- 
ever, that tliey never secured the cercitied copy on record 
in Savannah, Ga., but they received from some source not 
shc\\n on the records, on May 2, I'i^i, what purported to 
be a copy of the Whitney patent. Figs. 4 and 5 are the 
drawings accompanying the document. The full text of 
tlie 1841 specification is given in the Appendix, Docum^nu 
III. 

It will l)e noticed in comparing this 1841 record with ihe 
original, that the original specification gives a much more 
detailed account of the method of constructing the gin, 
even to the extent of describing and dlust rating the meth- 
od of cutting the wire which was used for making the 
spiked teeth in the cylinder, and descri1;)ing in great detail 
the method of inserting the bristles in the brush, andgi\ing 
so-me alternate methods; and in all other cases referring to 
alternate methods, the particular alternate methods are de- 
scribed. But the very clear and extended s])ecification in 
the original makes no suggestion of an alternate method of 
constructing the cylinder, as for example, the use of circu- 
lar saws. Neither does the original drawing show any 
suggestion of saws. But the specification of 1841 con- 
cludes with a paragraph not found in the original, x\z: 
"There are several modes of making the various parts r.f 
this machine, which, together with tlieir particular shape 
and formation are pointed out and explained in a descrip- 
tion with drawings, attested, as the Act directs, and lodged 
in the Office of the Secretary of State.'" 

There is a curious mistake noticeable in the drawing of 
1841. Fig. 4, that would surely indicate that Eli Whitney 
himself ne\-er e\-en saw it; that is, the handle by which the 
machine is to be turned, is anplied to the brush shaft, instead 
of the main cvlinder, which is the wav it is described in both 



1 6 THE INVENTION OK THE SAW GIN. 

the authentic and the substituted specilication; and this is 
the only way it could be made to work in practice. 

Whitney's authentic specifications say, in describing the 
brush : "IV. The clearer, C Fig. I, is constructed in the 
following manner: Take an iron axis, perfectly similar to 
that described as extending through the cylinder, except 
that it need not be so large nor fitted tor the application of 
a winch. 

Whoever made the drawing for the patent of^ce after the 
fire, could not have understood the principles of the gin, 
othervv'ise, this error ui placing the ^vinch (or hand crank) 
■could not have occurred. 

These substituted drawings have some of the features of 
the authentic patent drawings, besides some features of the 
gins that were built about 1841. They also embrace a 
number of features totally at variance with the ])rinciples 
of Whitney's or any other gin. 

The substituted drawings show sketches of saws, while 
there is nothing in the authentic drawings or specifications, 
even m the most remote way, suggesting the idea of a saw. 
These peculiar additions, which occur in the substituted 
documents, were evidently intended to establish a claim 
for Whitney for the invention of the saw gin, whereas the 
authentic patent papers amply refute such a claim. 

The substituted specifications, while being in the main 
a synopsis of the authentic specifications, omit all reference 
to drawings, either original or substituted. 

There were tried in the United States Court, district of 
Georgia, 27 suits for infringement of the W^hitney gin pat- 
ent. Among the papers in the evidence introduced in these 
suits, is a certified copy of a patent for a gin, issued May 
12, 1796, to Hodgen Holmes of Augusta, Ga. 

A certified copy of this patent is given in full in the Ap- 
pendix, Document VT 

No drawing accompanies the patent, and the specifica- 
tions are very meagre. The patent in itself does not in any 
way describe the fundamental operations of the gin, and 
does not state whether the teeth are made of wire or cut 




Fig. 3. 
Original Certified Patent Drawing. 



Note that no saws are shown. 



7ott^n Qin. 



S/3hioe£i~^A/0^ /. 



3!^cj7teciJ&r./4. /rff4 ■ 



^^■./. 




-^f:^J^ 



-^^y.-^^. 




Fig. 4. 
Drawing Accompanyingr the Substituted Patent. 

Note that saws are shown on this drawing. 



2/J/vae6o—^SA/:ai'S. 






-j^-^.-^. 



_^^.-^. 




iZ-^jf.-^ 



Fig. 5. Drawing Accompanying Substituted Patent. 



20 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

out of sheet metal in the shape of saws. The model which 
would demonstrate that, was burned in the Patent Office., 
and has never been replaced. The records show that 
Holmes was not a man of collegiate education. It is natu- 
ral, therefore, that his specifications, which had to he put 
in the inventor's own language, should not be so clear as 
that of Whitney, who was a Yale graduate, and who had 
the assistance of two Yale Professors. (Josiah Stebbins and 
Elizur Goodrich ) , in the preparation of his papers. 

It is certain that Holmes was granted a patent, signed 
by George Washington, President, Timothy Pickering, 
Secretary of State and Chas. Lee, Attorney General. It is 
also certain that gins with saw teeth were in use about that 
time. In a book (Origin, Cultivation and Uses of Cotton) 
by W. B. Seabrook, President Agricultural Society of 
South Carolina, published in Charleston in 1844, the au- 
thor says: "The Holmes machine was set up in the gris: 
mill of Capt.James Kincaid on Mill Creek in Craven (now 
Fairfield) County, South Carolina, in J795, and is reported 
to have been the first of the saw gins used in that State." 

In the petition for injunction, filed in the United States 
Court, District of Georgia, by Whitney vs. Arthur Fort 
and John Powell. March 16. 1804. (For full text see Ap- 
pendix, Document V.) Defendants are charged with in- 
fringements beginning 1800. In the petition occurs this 
language: "And it is also pretended . . . ' that the ma- 
chine used by them contains in it an miprovement; . . . 
that is to say, teeth, cut into circular pieces of metal." 

A great deal of Whitney's correspondence has been pub- 
lished, in which the invention is discussed; but previous to 
the letter by his partner Miller to Whitney. Feb. 15. 17Q7, 
no allusion whatever is made to the saw j^rinciple. In this 
letter. Miller says:. "It will be best to take the deposition of 
Goodrich and Stebbins on the subject of ratchet wheels, 
which may hereafter be rendered useful." The words 
"ratchet wheels" refer to a description often used in court 
in describing gin saws. This was on account of the simi- 
laritv of the gin saw to the thin iron ratchet wheel used on 



THK INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 21 

tiie end of the wooden cloth roll of a hand loom to hold 
the cloth taut. The full text of this letter is given in 
A'jpendix, Docunieiit V II. 

The only evidence adauced to prove that Whitney 
invented the saw principle, is the deposition of some Yale 
College friends of Whitney's in New haven, taken iNov. 7, 
1807, fourteen years after the first specifications were writ- 
ten. These depositions were taken by commission, at 
whose sittings the defence (though foimaily notified) were 
not represented. These depositions are now on file among 
the Court records above mentioned. They are all tj tl.e 
effect that the saw was in Whitney's mind when he made 
the invention, although it was not mentioned in the speci- 
fications. 

This research and discussion is not intended as an im- 
peachment, even by insinuation of the characters of the 
New Haven witnesses, most of whom the records show to 
be men of importance and integrity; but it seems proper 
to call attention to the facts: 

1. That they testified to matters happening 14 years 
previously. 

2. That there were only two years intervening between 
the issuance of Whitney's patent describing the spiked 
cylinder, and the issuance of the Holmes patent for the saw 
cylinder. 

3. That Wliitney himself did at some early date make 
the gins with saws, and that it would naturally be hard to 
get the dates exact, after so long a time and at so great a 
distance. 

4. That the memories of these witnesses were amply re- 
freshed. In support of this last observation is adduced a 
letter, dated Oct. 15, 1803, from W'hitney to Josiah Steb- 
bins, one of the witnesses to whom interrogatories were 
addressed. In this letter, Whitney asks Stebbins to 
depose as follows: 'T Jos. Stebbins, etc., etc., do testify 
and declare . . . that in the autumn of 1873 . . • 
that said Whitney repeatedly told me that he had orig- 
inally contemplated making a whole row of teeth from one 



22 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

plate or piece of metal. * * * / jiope you zcill be able 
call to mind the circumstances mentioned above. * *." 

The full text of this letter is given in Appendix, Docu 
ment VIII. The fact that the depositions of most of the 
other witnesses examined were substantially in the lan- 
guage of this letter written by Whitne}^ to Stebbins, seems 
to afford reasonable ground for stating that the memories 
of the other witneFses were similarly refreshed. 

When the case versus Fort and Powell came up for fimi 
adjudication, the Court gave a decree for perpetual injunc- 
tion. Prof. Olmstead cjuotes the text of the decree, in 
which occurs the following language: "A Mr. Holmes h?.s 
cut teeth in plates of iron, and passed them over the cylin- 
der. This is certainly a meritorious miprovement in tlu 
mechanical process of constructing this machine + + + . 
Whitney may not be at liberty to use Mr. Holmes' iron 
plate, but certainly Mr. Holmes' improvement dees not 
cestroy Mr. Whitney's patent right." 

The defence in all of the extensive litigation over the 
patent in Georgia, consists principally in claiming that 
there was a prior invention. The witnesses mostly relied 
upon to prove this were Dr. John Cortes Dyampert of Co- 
lumbia County, Georgia, and Mr. Roger ^McCarthy of 
Chatham County, Georgia. The former swore he saw a 
machine "somewhere in the Domains of the King of Prus- 
sia" la 1773, used for making lint 'n hospitals. McCarth-/ 
swore he saw something similar in 1790 or 1791. But it 
developed on cross-examination, and on the introductioi 
of numerous other witnesses, whose depositions are on file 
among the Court records, that these n-'achines were on en- 
tirely difl'erfni principles, and u=ed for other purpose . 
There were no means of separation other than gravity in 
au)^ of these machines, and they were all for beating and 
cleaning lint after seed had l^een removed. 

It was finally admitted by the defence that Whitnev's 
invention was new, but that the infringing machines were 
made before Whitney's model was publicly exhibited, or 
before it was publiclv announced that be had a patent. 



U/y/IT^ STATES OF AMERICP>.\ 

^^£Kc^^ DIVISION. Y^ 

SOU THERN DIS TRICT OF GEORO^y' /^ 



v '^-^^:^:^~~~ Oerkof the 

Court of the UnOeiZ/StaLes of America., for the Southern District of 



true cop^ 



Georgia, do hereby certify that the Writing annexed to this certificate - -■ 

^ y/7respectwe onginai^now onS&, and remaining on record in mg offic&y - 



of 
To wit 












m 
m 



IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have caused the seal of the said Court to he 
hereunto affixed, at the CityfC^i^'^^^'^ ef-in the Southern 

District of Georgia, this /^ day of ^ 

in the year of oar Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety 
and of the Indfipcndenee of the United States, the one hundred and 

twentg<^<^'^<^ J^ 

Cterk. 



y'^.jZe^./i^ 



the frame, an such msnjier as to give room for the clearer on one side of »t. 
flno the Hopper on the otl)er,as ip fig. I.- U.s height, if the machine is 
worked by hancl snould be about three feet four inches: otherwise it,ma> be 

Fig. 6. 

Certification of Whitney Patents, etc., showing few lines 
of the document attached. 



Full Text in Appendix, Document II 



24 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

See Fort's answer in W hitney vs. Fort and Powell, LJ. 
S. Court, District of Georgia, Dec. 17, 1805, Appendix, 
D( cnment V. 

There is a widespread allegation that "Whitney was bad- 
ly treated in the South." This seems to rest on the rumor 
that his first model was stolen from his shop at Mulberry 
Grove, Ga., that copies of it were widely made and used 
without license, that his witnesses failed to appear at tlie 
trials, that the South Carolina legislature after agreeing 
to pay him for the patent, afterward rescinded its action; 
and finally that there was a conspiracy among the cotton 
planters to invalidate his patent. 

As to the burglary of Whitney's shop, and stealing of liis 
models, there is not a word in the voluminous records of 
evidence in the infringement suits, extending over 13 
years. Neither is any mention made of it in his published 
cori-espondence. This seems conclusive proof that the 
story is of subsequent and spurious origin. 

The facts regarding W^hitney's experierxes with the 
legislature of South Carolina, have been carefully investi- 
gated, and an abstract of the State House Records on th> 
subject is given in the Appendix, Document IX. 

An examination of these papers shows that Dec. 10, 
1801, at the close of the session, the legislature passed a 
bill purchasing the Whitney patent right for the State fcr 
$50,000, agreeing to pay $20,000 in cash, and the remain- 
der in three equal annual installments, provided Whitne}' 
would make "within a reasonable time" two models of his 
gin, in his very best style, and file them for public inspec- 
tion in the State capitol, and provided further, that W'hit 
ney should refund all the amounts previously collected for 
license in the State. The cash payment was promptlv 
made. But Whitney did not, within two years comply 
with either requirement. The legislature in 1803 declared 
the contract forfeited, and provided for entering suit fo.- 
the recovery of the first payment. This action brougiit 
the final fulfillment of the conditions on the part of Whit- 
ney, in 1804. and then the legislature of 1804 ordered the 



UNiriW States of America,^ 

L^"^^^^ DIVISION \^^ 

SOUTHERN DISrmCT OF GEORGIA) 



*'a^ 



Court of the Unitei 




• Clerk of the 
tes of Amerioa., for the Southern District of 



Georgia, d^erebi/ certify that the Writing annexed to this certificate true cop^r*r 





>rd in my office, ^y 



/yfr ' 

yp respect^e ofjginal now onfile, and r^ainin 



IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have 
hereunto afpxed, at the Cdy. 



the seal of the said Court to be 
of in the Southern 






zz, ^ 

District of Georgia, this <^r.. day of ^^^^^/^^ 

in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety 



VP^ 



and of the Independence of the United Stales, the one hundred, and 



Qerk. 



..I fnventor. tN« pn-ncple <.P which invenKon cons.-.ts ,n ,he a-t of ex- 
tr«ctin« tHe cotton from the seed by n,«.„s ..i' ^e.h 



C(Hn(|riic-(ol 



Fig. 7. 

Certification cf Bill of Injunction by Deputy Clerk U. S. 
Court, showing few lines of Document attached. 



Full Text in Appendix, Document V. 



26 THE INVENTION 01'' THE SAW GIN, 

suit discontinued and reinstated the contract in accord- 
ance witli which the deferred payments were promptly 
made. 

The legislature of North Carolina in December, i8o-'. 
bought the patent rig'ht for that State, and agreed to pay 
for it by a special tax of 2 shillings and six pence on eacli 
saw used in a gin within the State for four years. This tax 
was properly collected and turned over to the in\'entor. 
amounting 10 about thirty thousand dollars. 

Whitney's plan in Georgia, as shown by his letters 
and other evidence was to own all the gins and gin 
v\l the 'X)lton made in the country. It is but human 
.nature *:hat this sort of monopoly should be odious 
to any community; and when to this is added the fact, (as 
shown by letters to Whitney in Connecticut, from his part- 
ner Miller in Georgia^ that Whitney and Miller could noi 
supply the demand for gins, it seems natural that there 
.should have been nnich infringement. After the gins were 
introduced in 1794, there was a large cotton crop made for 
the next ^^eason, on the presumption that it could be pre- 
}iared for the market on the new machines. But when the 
crop was gathered,, and the gins were not forthcoming, 
many planters had rude gins made in their own blacksmith 
shops. From this circumstance, arose the rumors that the 
various workmen who made the gins were the original in- 
ventors. One of the traditions crediting the invention to 
Jesse Bui! of Columbia County, Ga , (afterwards of La- 
Grange, Ga.,) arose from the circumstance of a gin havin::^- 
1:.een made for Bull In^ one of his employees, Nathan Lyons. 
It is said that when the first Whitney gins were in use in 
the count rv, no one but women were allowed to see them, 
and that Nathan Lyons, disguised as a woman, saw the 
gin and copied it. 

This legendar}^ story has no authentic foundation. The 
voluminous, evidence in the infringement suits nowhere re- 
fers to such an incident. 

Quite a number of legends about the invention of the gin 
liave no foundation whatever in fact. For example, the 






^ 



'^^^'^r:^^..^ DIVISION ' ^^■ 

SOUTHERN DISTHICT OF CEORCI/.^ y.. 



Cx^d^J-r" 



Clerk of the 



JCourt of the imitcd States of America, for the Southern District of 



Georgia, do hereby certify that the Writing annexed to this eertificate 

^^ respective original now onfile, and remaining a/^eeord in my office. 



irae cop 



'/ 



IN WITNESS WHEREOF. I Have cause^he seal of the said Court to be 




of in the Soutliern 



hereunto affixed, at the City 
District of Georgia, this 

in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety 
an(t of the Indeaeudence of the United States, the one hundred and 



/^Idayoj^.^ 



tment 




•lerk. 



£iici is iiindft ci pci-i't (if thcl•.l^ r.iAi.i'ini..^ 



Fig. 8. 

Certification of Holmes' Patent by Deputy Clerk, U. S. 

Court, showing- few lines of document attached. 



Full Text ill Appendix, Document VI. 



28 THE INVENTION OF THE SAW GIN. 

pleasant little story about the gin brush being suggested 
by the lady with her turkey tail fan. 

Holmes became a successful and prosperous planter. 
His descendents are numerous in South Carolina and 
Georgia, and are people of high social standing. 

The real facts about the cotton gin are : 

1. Eli Whitney, of Mass., a graduate of Yale College, 
invented a cotton gin, consisting of spikes driven in a 
wooden cylinder, and having a slotted bar through which 
these spiked teeth passed, and having a brush to clear 
the spikes. He obtained a patent JVIarch 14, 1794, signed 
by George Washington, President, Edmund Randolph, 
Secretary of State, and Wm. Bradford, Attorney General. 

2. Hodgen Holmes, of Georgia, a resourceful and prac- 
tical mechanic, invented an improved gin, using circu- 
lar saws properly spaced, passing through spaces between 
ribs. For this invention he obtained a patent May 12, 
1796, signed by George W'ashington, President, Timothy 
Pickering, Secretary of State, and Chas. Lee, Attorney 
General. 

3. Whitney's invention, consisting of a wooden cylinder, 
carrying annular rows of wire spikes, with a slotted bar 
and clearing brush was fundamental. 

4. The practical application of the fundamental idea was 
Holmes' invention of the saw gin, which consisted ot a 
mandrel or shaft cairying collars separating circular saws 
which pass through narrow spaces between ribs. 

5. Whitney went South without money, business experi- 
ence or mechanical training. He received from the South- 
ern States the following amounts : 

From South Carolina $50,000 

From North Carolina, (at least) •. . 30,00a 

From 7enne«see, (about) 10,000 

Royalties from Southern States $90,000 

6. In Georgia, his firm (Miller & Whitney) attempted 
to monopolize the ginning business. This brought on 
long and vexatious litigation, and the object was never 
successfully accomplished. 



^,^^ ^ 




^ i V^^^\|^ 





< 



o 

xn 






> 



o 



CHAPTER III. 

^be iprcparatton of Cotton for the flDarket 
Mith Slave Xabor. 

After the invention of the cotton gin, a plan of struc- 
ture was soon developed for the storage of cotton, and in 
which the separation of the cotton from the seed was ac- 
complished by the new machine. Generally, whoever 
bought one, built a house in which to place and use it, 
the house being so arranged as to cover the necessary 
machinery to operate the gin by power from two or four 
mules or horses. Accompanying this structure, there 
was usually a large press, the principal feature of which 
was a large wooden screw. This press was for packing 
the lint cotton into bales. The main building, above re- 
ferred to, was called the gin house. The press, taking its 
name froim its principal member, was called the screw, 
(possibly originally screw press). 

As these structures were developed in the early days oi 
cotton raising, so their shape and appearance remained, 
generally speaking, much like the original patterns untii 
1875 to 1880. Up to that period it may be said that no 
improvement of any consequence had been made, and 
even at that period, few plantations were without the old 
style gin house and screw; though in many cases the horse 
power had been supplanted by a small steam engine. 

The requirements were as follows: 

1. A place to store the seed cotton as it was gathered 
from the field. 

2. A suitable place for the operation of the gin. 

3. A lint room to receive the cotton as it came from 
the gin. 

4. A lint room to receive the lint cotton for temporary 
storage while w^aiting to be packed. 



COTTON WITH SLAVE LABOR. 35 

5. A place for the "running gear" or driving apparatus, 
so located that horse or mule power could be applied and 
be under shelter. 

The arrangement most common, and almost uniform, 
was a one and a half or two story building in which the 
main part of the the lower story was left without floor or 
sides, except where the side of the lint room adjoined it, 
as shown in Fig. 12. It was practically a building set up 
on wood pillars or columns, braced to make it firm and 
steady. The gin was placed in the second story, called 
the gin room; but this was always made large enough to 
serve as a store room for seed cotton as it was brought in 
from the field by the pickers. 

The gin discharged lint cotton into an upper lint room. 
This lint would be thrown down by hand through a door 
into a second lint room, adjoining it, and reaching down 
nearly to the ground. Here it would be trampled down 
to save room, while waiting to be carried out to the press. 

In the open space under the gin floor, was a vertical 
wooden shaft with long levers passing through it at i 
proper height from the the ground for hitching the mules. 
On this vertical shaft, above the levers, was a large 
wooden cog wheel, eight to ten feet in diameter. The 
cogs were made of hickory, and were mortised into the 
wooden rim. These meshed with the "wallowers" or 
"wabblers", set into the circumference of a horizontal 
shaft, which turned in w^ooden hangers suspended from 
the beams of the upper floor, as shown in Fig. 13. On 
this horizontal shaft was a plain wooden pulley six or 
eight feet in diameter, and from ^vhich, by means of a 
belt, the gin was driven. On the saw shaft of the gin was 
an eight- to twelve-inch pulley which received the belt 
from the driving pulley. It was desired to drive the gin 
at the rate of 200 to 300 revolutions per minute. These 
Avooden cog wheels and pulleys, clumsy as they were, 
were usually preferable to castings, because the first cost 
was much l^^ss, and the necessarv skill and material were 



36 COTTON WITH SLAVE LABOR. 

both available to keep them in repair, neither the labor 
nor material costing anything. 

After the cotton was ginned it became necessary to put 
it into some kind of a package for the market. In the 
earlier gin houses there was a circular hole cut through 
the upper tioor, probably three to tliree and one-half feet 
in diameter. Through this hole a large sack was sus- 
pended. The lint cotton was packed into this by hand, 
making for the market what was called a "bag of cotton. ' 
(Among old people at the present time, this term survives 
as a designation for a bale of cotton, of any kind.) Jt 
afterwards became desirable to make bales 5 to 5^ feet 
long, about 30 inches thick, and 40 to 48 inches wide, 
weighing 400 to 500 pounds. This grew to be the stan- 
dard size and shape of the bale. It was the result of the 
conditions surrounding the plantation. The body of the 
wagon, in which the bales must be taken to market, held 
four of them neatly. When it was desired to haul more 
than four bales, others could be loaded cross-wise and on 
top of the four in the body of the wagon; then, still others 
on top of these, or as shown in Fig. 14. Ten bales was 
usually the limit of the load for a team of six mules. It 
was thus that most of the cotton was sent to market. 
Such a load was rather top-heavy, and the bales were in 
some cases bound to the wagon by a pole passing over 
them from front to rear which was tied down at each end 
by means of ropes, to the body or the frame of the wagon. 
Topmost of all for long trips, was an arch frame, made ft 
bent wood and covered with canvass, under which corn, 
fodder and food was stored for the trip. 

Much cotton was hauled in loads of this kind a distance 
of fifty, and even one hundred and fifty miles. From the 
large plantations two or three such loads would be sent 
together. No fault was ever found with the size or 
weight of the bales. It rarely happened that there was 
less than twice the force at hand to do anything ordinarily 
required to be done in the way of handling cotton. ]\Iuch 







O 



o 



o 
X 

5 

CO 

o 



COTTON WITH SUAVE LABOR. 39 

of the humanity on a plantation was usually present to 
help load and ht out the wagons for a trip tO' the market 
town, and a whole day would frequently be devoted to 
loading and preparing. The "gear" must be overhauled. 
(Mules were usually driven in "gear," not harness. A 
set of gear consists of a collar made of shucks or poplar 
bark, a pair of hames, a hame-string. two trace chains and 
a back band.) The wagon cover often required patching 
and the carpenter and smith must tighten nuts, put in 
new bolts, and do such other repairs as seemed to them 
necessary to insure a safe trip. The season of hauling 
cotton generally brought bad weather, and the heavy 
travel of the cotton wagons would cause bad roads to be 
the rule. There was a fellow feeling amongst the wagon- 
ers on the road, and they helped each other out of mires, 
up steep hills, and in cases of overturning. 

Everything being in readiness, an early start was usually 
made from the plantation. Plenty of extra help was al- 
ways on hand, and besides the wagoner for each team, 
and perhaps a couple of helpers for each, several other 
stout hands would go, three, five and even fifteen miles, 
and then return home. 

The delight of the planter's young sons, twelve to six- 
teen years old, was to be allow-ed to accompany these 
wagons to market. The trip required three to six days, 
and even longer. When the sons would go, they would 
camp out with the negroes, live on the same fare, and 
often the members of the party would have a Httle "'pos- 
sum hunt" after camp was struck at night. 

It was by this sort of contact and fellowship with the 
negroes that the planter's son acquired that exact knowledge 
of the negroes' character which qualified him subsequently 
to control them on the plantation. Much of this fellowship 
of the planter's son with the negroes would now be consid- 
ered coarse. Most of his sports of that time were rough, 
but both these conditions contributed to the stimulation of 
the spirit of aristocracy. 



40 COTTON WlTH SLAVE LABOR. 

If the mistress or young ladies should go, it was in the 
heavy carriage peculiar to the time and section. The 
planter himself would be on horse1)ack or in an open 
buggy with a servant. 

The abundance of help to handle them, and these cum- 
brous trips, in which heavy single bales remained best on 
the wagons, made the weight, shape and size of the bale 
which was made under the screw the most desirable, 
and therefore it was that the screw was designed to make 
them. 

The necessary quantity of cotton to make a bale could 
be packed by the weight of two men into a box with di- 
mensions equal to the length and thickness of the bale and 
about nine feet high. To press this down to the forty 
inches was the work of the screw. A heavy frame was 
made containing the box as described. See Fig. 29. 
This frame extended above the box and held a large nut 
made of four massive blocks of timber firmly pinned to 
gether. Through this wooden nut passed a large wooden 
screw, cut out of a log 14 to 16 inches in diameter, and 
with threads about four inches broad or eight and one- 
half inches pitch, fitting in similar threads in the nut. To 
be able to lay out and cut the threads in this screw and 
nut, and have them fit properly and work well was the 
test of a plantation mechanic's ability as a mill-wright 
and carpenter. From the upper end of this screw, long 
sloping levers extended very nearly to the ground when the 
screw was down, and to these levers, mules were hitched 
and driven around to pull the screw up and down in pack- 
ing the bale. 

Proper sheds were put about the lower part of the 
structure, and on the top of the screw and levers, to pro- 
tect the structure and the operatives from the weather. 

The screw was entirely separate from the gin house, 
and the lint cotton had to be carried in hamper baskets, 
from the lint room to the screw. See Fig. 12. 

For the purpose of ginning and packing cotton with 







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44 COTTON WITH SLAVE LABOR. 

the above facilities and appliances, there were generally 
reqtiired: Four mules to- operate tjje gin, (two at each 
lever under the gin house); two drivers under the gin 
house; in the story above, a ginner to stand at the gin 
and feed the cotton intO' it properly; a ginner's helper to 
supply the cotton to the ginner at the gin; a helper to 
push the lint from the gin into the lint room, and a man or 
a boy to remove the seed from the f^oor under the gin; 
two hands to carry cotton from the lint room to the screw; 
two hands in the box to pack the cotton down to make 
the box hold a bale; one or two mules to pull the screw 
and one or two drivers. In all, eleven hands, and fre- 
.c[uently as many more were "helping" around the gin 
house and screw on rainy days. If there was a break- 
down, most of the hands loitered about on piles of cotton 
or seed, while a few would help the carpenter or black- 
smith to repair the breaks. To gin and pack two or three 
bales a day was fair work for the above force. The bales 
were partially enclosed in jute bagging and bound with rope. 
From the time of the invention of the gin to the close 
of the Civil War, when slavery was abolished, there was no 
demand for methods and appliances other than those 
above described. Steam power would have brought 
responsibility with no commensurate advantages from the 
planter's point of view. The boiler might explode, and it 
it did, the smallest part of the loss would have been the 
engine and boiler. Two or more tliousand dollars worth 
of negroes might be killed, and perhaps many more 
wounded. This would make large doctor bills, and labor 
and attention to niu"se them. The special care of the sick 
was the most particular personal care of the humane 
planter. Then, too, a steam engine would be getting out 
of order, repairs w^culd have to be obtained from machine 
shops, which were few and often far distant. In fact, the 
planter himself would have to give it some attention, even 
if he had an ordinary overseer; and the planter had little 
taste for anything that would re(iuire his attention except 
the care and government of the humanity on his p^.antation. 



CHAPTER IV 

^be Iplantatiou Before the Mar, 

Any discussion of Soiitheni plantation conditions 
before the Civil War, must of necessity, be intimately re- 
lated to the institution of slavery', and be coupled with the 
studv of the nesfro himself. 



-t>' 



The Negro Slave. 

Measured by Anglo-Saxon standards, a low type of un- 
educated negro is one bundle of contradictions. He can 
sleep more and get along with less sleep, eat more and get 
along with less to eat than ordinary humanity. In honesty 
and dishonesty, in strong affections and violent bad passions, 
in splendid loyalty and savage disloyalty, his moods often 
moving with rapidity from one extreme to the other in 
all these human motives, he is governed by his immediate 
surroundings and influences. 

It is totally at variance with Anglo-Saxon character to 
live in absolute subjection and yet love the master. The 
life on the plantation was one of absolute mastership on 
one side and of absolute subjection on the other, with the 
easiest sort of personal intercourse betw^eeu the two, and 
affection on both sides. 

In this statement is contained a fundamental differ- 
ence in the characters of the white man and the 
negro, which can never be appreciated except by 
those who have had intimate contact with the negro race. 
It is the lack of appreciation of this difference which made 
outside Anglo-Saxon plans of reconstruction bring such 
confusion instead of order, out of the disorders of the 
Civil War. 

The white man loves to control, and loves the person 
willing to be controlled by him. The negro readily sub- 
mits to the master hand, admires and even loves it. Left 
to his ow^n resources and free to act as his mind or emo- 



48 THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 

tions dictate, no man can foresay what he is liable to do. 
He may move under the int^uence of high motives and 
impulses, or of savage passions. All this relates to thv^ 
slave and to the freedman without education cr training. 

The so-called race problem is not cue, of the relations of a 
single white race with a single negro race, but rather one of 
a number of white races with a number of negro racss. 

The negro population of the United States is probably as 
much mixed as the white population. \\ he n the slav^ trade 
was in full operation, some rf the negroes brought over 
were absolute savages, while others enjoyed a considerable 
degree of civilization. The I'est and the worst were pro- 
bably I. GOO years apart in civilization, whih yet in their 
home in Africa. The highest types were rerhaos these from 
the interior of Africa, who had developed a fair civiliz:ition 
and were seldom enslaved. The lowest type was undoubtedly 
the West Coast Guinea negro, who was not only a savage, 
but the lowest type of Cannibal. On the Red Sea shore, 
near Arabia, there developed tribes of possibly higher civili- 
zation than those in Central Africa. Amongst the negroes 
themselves in the South, these differences are known and 
frequently referred to. The "blue-gum nigger," means the 
descendant of a west coast Cannibal type, while "the Dinka," 
is the superior type. Other negroes believe that the bite 
of a "blue-gum nigger" is deadly poison. 

The better types have many line qualities of character and 
sometimes amongst them are individuals of rare intellect, 
and even princely characteristics of mind and manners. 
But, as in India, the highest of the princes yield and defer 
to practical English thought, so in America, the African of 
high type defers to and promotes the civilization of the 
white man of composite Caucassian blood, (English, Ger- 
man, etc.). while the inferior types stand in wholesome awe 
only of the force with which the white man is known to insist 
upon as punishment for those wlio violate his civilization. 

j\Iuch the larger portion of the negroes caught and 
brought to this country by slave traders were naturally the 
inferior types. 




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THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 49 

The (lesceiulants of the l)etter types tra\el most, and are 
servants about hotels and prixate honses, l)oth Xorth and 
South. 

The redemi)tion of the negro race from a conchtion of 
hackwarchiess and nnecinal de\'elopment may be accom- 
])hshed ])y education. This is made to api)ear doubtful in 
many cases, where education has been seen to emphasize in- 
<l()lent or vicious qualities in many of them. On th? other 
hand, there are many examples in which better (opportuni- 
ties and education haxe broug-ht the c[ualities of good citi- 
zenship to fair de\elo])ment, and in exce])tional cases to 
remarkably high standards. 

Civilization destroyed a large majority of the Indians. It 
is now said that the remnant yet left is the civilizable rem- 
nant. It is claimed that these are now improving in num- 
bers and in qualities of ci\ilization. It is possible that 
civilization will do with the negro, in a different degree, 
what it did with the Indian, viz : destroy the inferior and 
imcix'ilizable percentage and ci\'ilize the better element. 

It transpires that the leaders of the race itself seem cap- 
able of the loest work in formulating plans for the elevation 
of the race by education. These have been happy in their 
judgment of what sort of education best suited the negro 
in his present conditions and surrouncHngs. These strongly 
urge that the negro must rise by degrees, going through 
each condition of progress already passed by the white race : 
and that the education now most required for them is 
that practical sort, which makes them artisans, (carpenters, 
bricklayers, lilacksmiths) and skilled workers in other 
trades, and better and more intelligent agriculturalists. 

Tlie ultimate result would seem to rest ])rincipally with 
the race itself. 

The planter, living on his plantation, was always at 
hand to put a stop to any sort of disturbance. The in- 
fluence of the planter's family was of greater importance 
than was ever appreciated in keeping the better natures 
of the negroes to the fore. A very generous and friendly 
kindness lias an immense and far-recching influ- 



50 THE PLANTATION BRFORE THE WAR. 

ence. The white l)oy or white girl of slave- 

liolding families was to them something just a 
little more than ordinary humanity, and thus they could 
exercise an authority and an influence almost incompra- 
hensible. These peculiar relations were not without in- 
fluence on the white race. The control was not alone 
bv force. The example of perfect conduct was import- 
ant in two particulars. These were physical cc.urage, and 
the keeping of one's word. The negroes admu-ed Nie 
man who was afraid of nothing, and who never failed in 
his promises. Therefore, the qualities of courage and 
truthfulness became highly developed; and to question 
either of these in any planter meant mortal combat or dis- 
grace. Thus came the fre(|uency of the duel in the Souths 
though it was never so frequent as has been suppose;!. 

Manv people who were opposed to the institution of 
slavery have been ])ersistent in representing the ])lant£r as 
a furious tighter or "fire-eater." Frequent dueling seemed 
to confirm this reputation. 

As a matter of fact, the average planter, while anvjly cour- 
ageous, was the most amiable, friendly, hospitable and un- 
agressive of men. He was slow to take or give offense. lie 
never carried a pistol, or otherwise went ^i-epared for a 
fight. When he felt himself ofi^ended by an inferior, he in- 
flicted an ordinary chastisement, and it was dangerous for 
the inferior to resist it. \\dien his veracity or courage was 
questioned 1)y an equal, there was a well formulated "Code 
Duello," printed in book form, in accordance with all the 
regulations of which, he must as a gentleman proceed. 
These required most ceremonial notices and preparations, 
also the attendance of friends on each side, to guarantee 
absolute fairness. It required high character and courage 
to live under and up to the Code. 

Slavery and the habit of duelling were the two blots on 
the civilization of the South. The former frequently de- 
veloped inhuman masters, and. the latter occasionally de- 
veloped fighting bullies — the professional duelists. The 
great majoritv of ])lanters were neither i'diuman masters nor 






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THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 5 1 

professional duelists, but were essentially the kind of men 
respected and beloved of humanity. 

Among' many other changes brought about in the cotton 
producing area oi the South, is the total disappearance of 
the sentiment in favor of, or the reason for the tolerance of 
the duel. One of the most grotesque absurdities of the 
])resent day is the fool who poses as being willing to fight a 
duel, laboring under the delusion that he is imitating his 
grandfather. The courage of the best type of planter was 
never manifested in common fighting, and among his worthy 
descendants, the duel is equally in disrepute. 

The idea that the ante-bellum cotton planter was indolent, 
or an indilTerent Inisiness man, or that he was always a 
spendthrift is totally wrong. On the contrar}-, he was ever 
on the alert. He was judicial minded, energetic, usually 
well educated, always well trained in every operation con- 
nected with the production of standard crops. He suc- 
ceeded by the same means that are necessary for success 
now, viz. by better education, better training, more energy 
and steadiness of i)urpose, than the average of the jjeople 
who do not succeed so well. 

The system of agriculture operated 1)y the planter was 
wonderfully successful. Besides developing the production 
of cotton to an extent to give the world better, chea])er and 
more abundant raw material for clothing than ever before 
enjoyed, he at the same time, and in addition, produced 
more grain per capita, more meat per capita, and more home 
supplies, than the people" of any other part of the United 
States. The methods of organization, and of training the 
organizations were unsurpassed. Infiuences adverse to ed'.:- 
cation of labor, and fa\oral)le to the institution of slavery, 
ultimately destroyed a system that was in otlier respects 
most excellent, and wonderfully successful. 

Great improvement in the condition of Southern agricul- 
ture is being brought about by diversification of cro])s, even 
in sections that have as yet no manufacturing population. 
It has been pointed out that the ante-bellum Southern planter 
of cotton raised practically all his supplies at home. The 



52 THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 

post-bellum fanner has not been doing this; but he is coming 
more and more to it, and is prospering in proportion. Al- 
though population is largely increased in each cotton plant- 
ing State, none of them (Texas excluded) are even now 
raising as much corn, meat or wheat as they did in i860. 

Plantation Profits. 

The planter who produced cotton with slave lal)Of 
could always make money. Of cour.'^e, this varied great- 
ly. Some would make more and some less, and some 
would fail, without regard to the price of cotton. Even 
at 4c a pound, a planter who was energetic and had good 
judgment, could make from 8 to 10 per cent, on his in- 
vestment. This certainty of profit was entirely due to the 
fact that the support or living for all the humanity on the 
plantation was produced on the plantation. 

The crop was generally laid out on a basis of 25 acres to 
one good hand and one mule. Oi this land, 10 acres 
would generally be put in cotton, and 15 in wheat, corn 
and oats. The most able bodied men on the place were 
generally the plow hands. About one-half the labor was 
selected for this purpose. The older men, the strongest 
women and the youths 011 the place made another force 
of labor that did the hoeing, handling of the grain, pick- 
ing the cotton and all miscellaneous work. 

Of course, the work of the able bodied men was not 
confined to plowing. In season, some of them did the 
blacksmithing, clearing land, driving wagons, ginning 
and hauling cotton to market. In fact, there were no 
such formulated divisions, such as i^ above indicated, but 
the work of all the hands was subject to much vari- 
ation. In much of the work, all kinds of labor took some 
part; and in such work as hog-killing and sheep-shearing, 
even the children would like to be about and take a hand. 

A good planter could operate his ])lantation in such a 
way as to have practically the entire cotton crop as clear 
profit. This would, of course, mean that li\'e stock, grain 



THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 53 

aiul uther products of the plantation, l)eside cotton, would 
be sold in sufficient (juantity to yield money to buy 
clothes, sugar, cotfee, molasses and other necessary fam- 
ily and plantation supplies which could not be raised on 
the plantation. 

Extent of Plantations. 

Some plantations comprised as high as ten to twenty 
thousand acres of land, and one thousand slaves. These 
w^ere comparatively few, and the entire investments in 
such a plantation would have been about one million 
dollars. On the other hand, there were a great many in- 
stances of small cotton planters owning ten or less slaves, 
and 300 or less acres of land. 

The capital in such cases would not exceed eight to ten 
thousand dollars. 

The great bulk of the cotton was produced by planters 
who owned from 50 to 150 slaves and 2,000 to 5,000 acres 
of land. It was this great class that made their planta- 
tion supplies on the plantation, and made cotton growing- 
a great institution. 

Taking the average plantation at one hundred slaves 
and 3,000 acres of land, the equipment w^ould be as fol- 
low'S: 

25 plow hands, 

25 miscellaneous hands, 

50 w'O'men and children, non-pr((hicers, 

25 mules, 

4 horses for family and general use, 

600 hogs, 

25 head cattle, 

100 sheep, 

TO goats. 

15 dogs. 
Chickens. p"uireas, i;eac( cks. turkeys, geese, dticks. etc. 
Blacksmith shoj), wheelwright a/id other wood-w'ork- 
ing shop, 20 to 2=^ negro hcnises, gin house and screw'. 



54 THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 

stables, barns, carriage houses and wagon sheds, and m 
many instances, a grist and flour mill, and a store. 

Such an average plantation of jog slaves and 3,000 
acres of land, with its equipment, would be worth on an 
average about $100,000. It would produce about 100 
bales of cottou, besides all supplies. Such a plantation, 
conducted with energy and good judgment, woud easily 
make $10,000 to $20,000 a year, according to manage- 
ment and the price of cotton. 

The query as to a man's wealth was not "how much 
is he worth?" but "how many negroes does he own?" 

Some planters were thrifty and economical, and grew 
richer with great rapidity, while many employed over- 
seers to look after tlieir estates, and spent the incomes in 
travel or local extravagance. 

The Plantation Home. 

It was the custom for the planter to live on his planta- 
tiou. Even those who traveled much had a home on the 
plantation, and spent much time there. The maintenance 
of the organization of the plantation and labor, and the 
control of the negroes as slaves, made it practically ne- 
cessary for the planter and his family to live on the place 
This left plenty of tnue 011 the hands of each member of 
the family. In this coudition the plantation home was 
always a hospitable place. Besides ample time, the host 
and his family hadabundant service, horses, vehicles, plenty 
of home raised food, excellent cooks, and plenty of amuse- 
ment, such as hunting and fishing for the men, and danc- 
ing for the young people. Even the music was made by 
a slave who "had learned the ^'iolin. (Negroes were fond of 
music, and many jf them learned to play different instru- 
ments.) There was no cumpulsion in such cases — none 
was ever necessary. The slightest suggestion by a young 
lady from the "big house," would bring the tender of ser- 
vices from every one on the place who could play the fid- 
dle. Besides being fond of music, the negroes were ex- 



THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 57 

ceedingiy fond of the gayety and finery of dances and other 
fnnctions. Indeed, whenever the company and the home 
folks furnished young people enough to make a quad- 
rille or Virginia reel, the first suggestion of the dance 
would be apt to come from some negro, who wished to 
see the fine people and dresses in the rhythmic evolutions. 
Then, too. fiddling in the big house at night 
for the young white folks, was an acceptable 
excuse for being late at work in the morn- 
ing-. At all entertainments the "field hands" 
(negroes who had not access to the house as servants or 
otherwise,) would crowd around the windows and porches 
to look on. as they were always welcome to do. 
The pleased expression on the faces of all these, 
and many other evidences showed t'^at, to them, to watch 
the dancing or other proceedings was great entertainment. 
On such occasions, it was not uncommon to see a young 
lady in the dance, when near a window, divide her atten- 
tion and conversation between the yoimg man who was 
her partner, and some negro woman on the otitside. wh.o 
was one of her slave friends. 

The publicity of all plantation life was training for the 
young men, and accustomed them to live in public view 
as it were, and contributed to make public speakers and 
statesmen. 

Previous to about 1845, niost of the negro houses were 
log cabins, and the houses of many planters were also built 
of logs. After 1845, most of the houses for botli planter 
and slave were frame, those for the planter being ustially 
large and pretentious, while those for the slaves were of 
about the same character as tenement houses built about 
the same time for factory operatives in the \orth and 
East. 

The log house was usually covered with what were locally 
known as "boards." These were 2^ to 3 feet long, and 
about 6 inches wide. They were riven or split out of logs, 
as shingles are. but were not drawn as shingles were then. 



58 THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 

( Shingles were "drawn" smooth and tapering with a "draw- 
ing knife.") Frame houses were generally covered with 
shingles. 

Ceneral Organization. 

The average well regulated plantation was almost al- 
ways in the immediate charge of the owner. If the owner 
was a professional man, lawyer, doctor or preacher, there 
was generally an overseer. Many planters who were not 
professional men also had overseers. These overseers hail 
general charge of the labor. They blew a horn or rang a 
bell in the morning to call out the negroes to work, and 
otherwise looked after their labors in detail. The pay of 
the overseer was usually three to five hundred dollars a 
year, a house to live in, a good horse to ride, and some 
part of his living out of the products of the plantation. Tt 
was he who flogged the slaves, wiien this was considered 
necessary. 

There were generally on every plantation a carpenter 
and millwright, and a blacksmith. Wagons had wood 
axles and were lubricated with pine tar. This pine tar was 
made in a "tar kiln." Charcoal was used in the smith 
shop. This was made in a coal kiln. Collars for mules 
were made of corn shucks or poplar bark. Hogs, cattle, 
sheep and goats to make the meat supply were raised on 
the place. Much cotton and wool was spun at home, and 
not a little also wo'^en. Frequently wool would be ex- 
changed with some factory for cloth. 

The planter's wife would overlook the weaving 
and tlie making of the negroes' clothes, while most of the 
wcrk was done by the negro women. 

Tlanters' wi\'es and daughters combined in a curious 
way aristocratic ideas and habits with practical capabili- 
ties. While, as a rule, they rarely worked much, they 
nevertheless learned every domestic operation and 
duty, and could direct these with wonder- 
ful understanding and efficiency. Practically all 



THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 6 1 

ladies learned to ride horseback, and to handle horses, n:A 
only easily, but so well as to make it a real pleasure. A 
young- lady on a plantation would think nothing of having 
her horse saddled and riding ten miles in an afternoon to 
pay a visit, riding home the same afternoon. 

Much of the plantation work was turned into a frolic. 
In the autunm when the corn w^as gathered, many plant- 
ers would have it piled on the ground before the doors 
of the corn cribs, and then give a "corn-shucking.'" 
Everybody on the place w^ould be at the shucking, as 
would also negroes from neighboring plantations. Fre- 
([uently many white people would be invited, and vvhile 
these would do no work, both whites and blacks would 
have a big frolic. The function was generally on a moon- 
light night. There was liquor, mostly corn whiskey, while 
the shucking was going en, and a supper afte-rwards. Per- 
haps a shote or calf would be killed and barbecued. One 
negro would be selected to get on top of the corn pile and 
lead in the singing, and the singing was a sort of solo re- 
frain by this one leader, and some chorus answer by all the 
others. Meanwhile the white folks would talk politics 
and hobnob in the big house. 

When new ground was to be cleared, the home folks cut 
down the trees, cut of¥ the brush, piled it, and when dry, 
burned it; and then, to get rid of the heavy logs, laid a 
plan to get them piled up and burned. Neighbors were 
again invited to help roll the logs into piles. This was 
called a "log-rolling," which was a daylight function. 
The social features of liquor, dinner and politics were 
about the same as those of the corn-shucking. The 
term "log-rolling" has been adopted as a political term, 
meaning: You hclv me, and I'll help you. New houses 
were freouently necessary for increasing numbers of ne- 
groes. For erecting the frames of these, "house-raisings" 
were similarlv gix'en. Amongst the women, quilting ])ar- 
ties w'ere common. 

Churches were liberally provided, and both master and 



62 THE PLANTATION KKFORK THE WAR. 

slave attended church with regularity. In the summei-. 
when crops were "laid by," (work of cultivation finished; 
there would be, before harvest time, protracted and camp 
meetings, which would be liberally attended from far and 
near. 

Amusements. 

The amusements ( n the plantation were very numerous. 
In all of these, the negroes always took an interest, and in 
many participated. 

Fox hunting was very popular. Alany planters kept 
fox hounds, some as many as 25 or 30. It was not uncom- 
mon for ladies to ride after the iiounds, and occasionally 
a privileged negro would also be allowed to go. 

Almost every planter kept one or two pointer or setter 
dogs and hunted partridges or quail. This was perhaps 
the most standard sport. 

Besides the setters, pointers and fox hounds of fine breed, 
kept by the planter himself, his sons and the n.fgroes gener- 
ally kei^it up a collection of rabbit dogs, coon dogs and pos- 
sum dogs. 

Fishing was common and popular This was done wn'tli 
pole and line by everybody. The men and boys, white and 
black, went seining", gigging, grabbling, (hunting fish un- 
der stones) and muddying. 

Horse racing, chicken fighting, wrestling and boxing 
were all popular and perfectly respectable. These sports 
were conducted with perfect decorum: and as a rule there 
was little or no betting. Betting was not unusual, how- 
ever, and sometimes it would run high. 

House narties and picnics with dancing were frequent 
amongst the young white people, while barbecues, with po- 
litical speaking or miscellaneous oratory were indulged in 
by the older people. The negroes fiddled and danced much. 

The white boys and negroes hunted rabbits in day time 
and coons and opossums at night. The life of the planter 
and his sons was a hardy one and they loved hardy sports. 



THE PLANTATION BKFORE THE WAR. 65 

These anuisenients — l)()th in j.loors and out doors — nsver 
interfered with the duties or domestic economies of the 
household or plantation. 

From Slave to Freedman. 

, During the Civil War, the cotion i)lantations were 
practically in charge of the planters' wives, assisted by a 
few old and decrepit men, and boys under 16 years of age, 
All other white people had gone to the war. It is the 
marvel of marvels that in this condition, lasting nearly 
four years, there was never an outbreak nor a symptom 
of discontent among the slaves. The negro character 
itself, the very exact and jjractical knowledge by 
the planters' wives of the negro character, and 
the ])ast training of the negro, all contributed to this 
result. The extent of the trust that was placed in the ne- 
gro's keeping, and the perfection of its keeping on his 
part during the war, can never be fully realized or appre- 
ciated. 

After the war, when the negro became free and was 
given the ballot, and when new dominating forces began 
to appear, the negro soon developed a number of charac- 
teristics that had been formerly suppressed or were latent. 
Adventurers came and misled him in politics; and while 
under the former control and influence he had been tract- 
able and amiable, under the new ores he became turbu- 
lent and riotous. Under bad leadership, and with negro 
votes State and county governments were set up wdiich 
became more corrupt and debauching than anything that 
ever existed before under the form of a government. A 
State militia w'as organized, composed almost entirely of 
negroes. White people were forbidden to carry arms by 
laws which were not observed, the "Ku-Klux Klan," which 
was a wdiite man's protective league, was formed; and it 
was probably this organization which saved civilization 
from utter annihilation in the South from 1867 to 1876. 



64 THE PLANTATION BEFORE THE WAR. 

White Supremacy. 

In 1876 the whites, by great energy, and partly by force 
of arms, obtained control of the State governments, 
which were still under the control of the negroes and 
corrupt whites, and thus ended the semi-anarchistic con- 
ditions. 

From 1880 to 1900, the political, social and industrial 
conditions in the South were vastly improved. Manu- 
facturing industries in iron, cotton, cotton oil, lumber and 
other raw materials were establishea and prospered, l)Ut 
the voting power of the ignorant negroes made them 
still a disturbing and debasing influence in politics. 
From 1880 to 1900, practically all the cotton growirig 
States made laws withdrawing the right of suffrage from 
the illiterate whites and negroes. This seems to be elim- 
inating the last adverse influence exerted by the black 
man in politics, industrial development and progress. 



CHAPTER V. 

Zbc preparation of Cotton for tbc flDarhet, as 
nDoMftct) b\) tbc abolition of Slaverv\ 

After the Civil War. no quick clianges came about, other 
than proclaimed and legislated changes. The end of the 
conflict made the negroes legally free; but they had none 
of the habits or feelings of free men, and it took time for 
them to acquire them. The skilled laborers amongst them 
were naturally the most intelligent, and were the first to 
reach the point of obtaining definite compensation for 
labor. 

The wooden cogs and wallowers of the gin running gear 
used for transmission of power wore rapidly and required 
frequent renewal. When these renewals were made by 
labor that cost nothing, cogs and wallowers were better 
than cast bevel wheels. But when the labor had to be 
paid for in money, a demand grew at once for cast bevel 
wheels. On to the larger wheel, sections of castings were 
bolted, making of it a large bevel wheel, then a cast bevel 
pinion was put on the horizontal shaft, the heavy teeth 
meshing properly with each other. The application oi 
cast gearing about a gin house was probably the first move 
in the direction of saving labor. 

.Labor Saving Devices. 

It soon became difficult on a farm to command or coax 
■enough negroes together to gin a crop of cotton, so de- 
moralized had they grown with their ideas of freedom. 
To them, freedom was absolution from work, and liberty 
to overstep all bounds. This difificulty of obtaining labor 
was accentuated by the advent of a system of separate 
farming, in which negroes rented lands on their own ac- 
count, and only worked enough to make themselves a bare 
living. 



66 PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR MARKET. 

A spirit of interest began to manifest itself amongst 
planters in the introduction of appliances tending to reduce 
the number of hands and other annoyances connected with 
the preparation of cotton for the market. 

Wrought band iron rapidly took the place of ropes for 
binding the bales, both as a matter of economy and for 
safety from fire. The turbulent times growing out of the 
entrance of the negro into politics, made important the 
question of fire risk, which was formerly almost nothing. 

A mechanical attachment called the feeder, (A Fig. 21) 
into which the seed cotton could be put from time to tin«e, 
and which would, with proper adjustments, feed the gin, 
was now invented and much purchased. This dispensed 
with the ginner or his helper. Co-incident with the 
"feeder" came the "condenser," (G Fig. 21) which was an 
attachment to the gin to catch the lint cotton between 
two skeleton wire-cloth-bound rollers, delivering it from 
the gin in the shape of a continuous "bat", instead of like 
feathers in a gale. This did away with the lint room hand. 

Next came a compact press capable of pressing a bale 
by the power of two stout laborers This would be lo- 
cated in the lint room, or at some point outside, where the 
cotton could be conveniently pushed directly into the 
press from where the condenser delivered it. This dis- 
pensed with the hands to carry cotton from the lint room 
to the screw, and al=o with the mules and drivers which 
operated the screw. 

During all these changes, the negroes were moving 
slowly towards citizenship. The number of them owning 
mules was yearly increasing, and the tendency with the 
planter was to encourage them to rent land and furnish 
their own live stock; even though purchased on credit 
from the planter himself. It was thought that the feeling 
of ownership would result in better care of the stock. But 
this rendered more difificult the matter of getting together 
enough stock to do einning. Difficulties came also about 
the matter of keeping up the repairs about the gin house. 



PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR MARKET, 67 

When a planter would adopt the tenant system — whether 
at once, or gradually — then he would disown any responsi- 
bility for furnishing facilities to tenants to prepare cotton 
for market. Co-operative efforts of the tenants to keep 
up the gin house and screw would fail of good or satisfac- 
tory results. 

Public Ginnery. 

By general consent it was determined that the best ar- 
rangement would be for the planter to.buy a steam engine, 
employ an engineer and the necessary force, and gin for the 
public for a fixed toll. Sometimes thib would take the form 
of a traveling outfit, composed of a portable engine on 
wheels, a gin set up on a wagon, and a hand press which 
could be quickly put together on the ground near by. 
This would go from one plantation to another, stopping 
sometimes at the old gin house, and sometimes going di- 
rect into the cotton fields. See Fig. 18. 

These changes may all be said to have forced themselves 
upon the plantation. They were not the result of any ex- 
ertion on the part of the planter or the tenant to find bet- 
ter or cheaper methods. Each feature was introduced as 
a matter of necessity, not as a preferable way, but as an 
only way the crop could be prepared for market. 

The planter thought himself abused, the victim of in- 
ferior labor, when he found that he must add to his gin- 
ning facilities. But when he established his rights to 
charge a toll, or other fair compensation for these facilities, 
and determined to hire and pay for the labor in and about 
the gin house, then did he begin to realize that he was 
nearing the end of one of his worst vexations. These in- 
dustrial changes were not the only ones that were taking 
place. Agricultural methods were being similarly revo- 
lutionized. The plantation tools of 1870 may be said to 
be the common woc.^d plow stock with a small variety of 
small iron plow-shares, a common weeding hoe, a scythe, 
and a wagon. On the same plantation in 1880, one would 



68 PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR MARKET. 

be apt to find modern reapers, sulky plows, cotton plant- 
ers, elaborately made harrows, mid like implements. 
From the close of the war tO' the present time, the quantity 
of commercial fertilizers used, has increased from nothing 
to enormous proportions. 

Besides industrial and agricultural changes, a still 
greater change was in progress, viz: the complete political 
and social revolution of the entire country. Many a per- 
sonal conflict between the whites and blacks, reported aa 
a Ku-Klux or political row, was the result of honest dii-- 
ferences between employer and employe, upon unsettled 
business questions, aggravated by political agencies and 
prejudices. The wonder is, that where such vast changes 
were transpiring, tlie friction of the changes caused no 
more extensive trouble, plenty though there was. 

After some experience with steam power, its applica- 
tion to the cotton press, as well as to the gin, became 
common, and from a source of expense, trouble and worry, 
ginning quickly became a source of satisfaction and profit. 
This was effected by steam power, improved facilities, and 
the ordinary application of the principle of compensation 
for value recei\'ed. 

The question of ginning began now to receive much 
intelligent thought. A good steam ginnery came to be 
as much a standard property as a mill for grinding corn 
or fllouir. Whoever could attract the most public custom, 
gin the cheapest, and give the best satisfaction, as to ap- 
pearance of lint produced out of the same quality of cot- 
ton, could make the most money. 

Following these adaptations were well designed modern 
steam ginneries, well equipped with labor saving devices 
and appliances. 

Fig. 19 shows a brick ginnery with spiked belt elevators 
for handling seed cotton. This was well equipped with 
overhead water tank, hose and automatic sprinklers for 
fire protection. 

About 1885 to 1890 exhaust suction fans began to ap- 




Fig. 19. 
Improved Ginnery, 



70 PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR MARKET. 

pear, with which seed cotton could be unloaded from the 
wagon through a pipe or flue and discharged into the gin 
feeder, or into bins partitioned off in the gin house. Or, 
if it was desirable, to hold seed cotton in storage, it was 
often done in small storage rooms, built apart from the gin 
house proper. When desired, this cotton would be fed 
to the gins direct from this outer house, or from a wagon, 
through a flue connected with this exhaust fan. See Figs. 
25 and zy. For disposing of the seed as they come from 
the gin, spiral steel conveyors were brought into use, ar- 
ranged to discharge the seed through an opening in the 
bottom of tliem, or into a customer's wagon outside of the 
building. 

The seed, not needed for replanting, were formerly 
thrown out and allowed to rot and were then used as a 
fertilizer. They rapidly came to be sold to the cotton 
seed oil mills at good prices; others were cut up in suitable 
mills, to increase their fertilizing values, and thus they 
have assumed the position of a legitimate marketable pro- 
duct of cotton raising. 

The Problem of Baling. 

The most perplexing problem now before those engaged 
in the manufacture of improved macliinery for the prepa- 
ration of cotton for the market is the question of baling it. 
Immense progress has been made in the construction and 
improvement of railroad facilities in the South. The 
very long distances it was formerly necessary to haul cot- 
ton to reach a market, no longer exist, and the construc- 
tion of new lines is daily decreasing those distances. The 
product of large plantations is no longer hauled in ten 
bale loads behind 6-mule teams accompanied by a surplus 
force of negroes to handle the 500 pound bales. The 
plantations are cut up and divided. The business of the 
tenants is separate now and distinct, whether on the same 
plantation or not. Each tenant must market his own 
few bales in his one- or two-horse waggon. It would be 



PREPARATION OF COTTON FOR MARKET. 7 1 

a matter of importance to many farmers if the bale was of 
a size and weight that one man could conveniently handle. 
The owners of public gins feel, also, the need of improve- 
ment in the matter of both the j^ress and bale. 

The operation of handling the cotton to get it in the 
press box; the necessity still existing for one or two men 
(or a complicated steam tramper) to tramp it 
in order to get a good bale; the size of 
the bale; the fact that pressing is a periodic, 
and not a continuous operation, and the inadequate and 
incomplete covering, are all objectionable from every point 
of view. Continuous presses, such as are used for ha}", 
ha\-e been used, making smaller and very desirable shaped 
bales, but the commerce of the country may be said to be 
based on the old form. Cotton is stored, shipped and sold 
on commission for so much a bale; and to change the size 
or shape is to confuse business in all these things. One 
advantage of these small bales is that the press is 
.powerful enough to make them sufficiently compact 
for export, whereas, ordinary plantation or ginnery bales 
have to be repressed in very heavy machines (called coin- 
presses) at central points and ports. 

Other ginnery presses have been devised to make com- 
pressed bales. One method is by folding a compressed la]j 
of cotton in layers, and then pressing the bale. Another 
is by tightly rolling up a compressed lap into a cylindric;d 
bale. Another is by spirally winding under pressure, and 
compressing cotton into cylindrical bale.. The most 
modern of these ginnery presses are designed to make 
bales as compact, and otherwise even more suitable for 
commerce, than the enormous and cumbrous compress 
plants heretofore standing and operating between the 
ginnery and export markets. 



CHAPTER. VI. 

^bc fll^o^crn Cotton 6in, press an^ 6inneri?. 

The roller gin for separating lint from seed in Sea Island 
and other black seed cotton, is of very ancient origin. 
This machine is not well adapted for ginning the upland 
cotton of the United States. 

The Roller Gin. 

Fig. 20 shows a cross section of a common form of roller 

gin- 
Cotton is put into hopper A. 

It is pushed forward by the reciprocal motion of feeder 
B, against leather covered roll C. 

Shover B presses the cotton against the leather covered 
roll which draws the hbre under the stationary knife E. 

Beater knife D, in conjunction with stationary knife E, 
beats the seeds free from lint. 

Seed fall through grid F. 

Lint adheres to leather covered roll and passes arouud 
with it until it is cleared by clearer bar G. 

There are several improved forms of roller gins, mostly 
working on the same principle. 

The perfection of the roller gin has been brought about 
principally in England, for use in India and Egypt. Many 
of these gins have been brought to the United States, for 
use in the Sea Island cotton regions, and some few are 
now being introduced for long staple semi-upland cotton 
in the Mississippi Valley. A limited business is done in 
building these gins in the United States, but the gin busi- 
ness of the country is in saw gins. 

The Saw Gin. 

The original principles of the saw gin as patented b}' 
Whitney and Holmes remain to the present day the domi- 
nant features of the most modern cotton ein. 




■■ ■■■■■■■^■■■1 



^F" 



^ 



00 




Fig. 20. Roller Gin. 



74 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

The most important advances in cotton ginning ma- 
chinery for the past hundred years consist in modes and 
material of construction; in the manner of applying the 
driving power, and in accessory appliances for feeding 
seed cotton to the gin, and taking the products away. 

The frame and most of the other parts of the gin were 
formerly made of wood, while now, the main parts are all 
of iron or steel. The original conception of the brush 
remains nearly the same. It formerly consisted of four 
cross arms, studded with bristles, while now it is a hollow 
wooden cylinder carrying 25 to 35 rows of bristles. 

Fig. 21 is a section showing the principal working parts 
of the gin of to-day. 

Saw Gin, Fig. 21, Lettering. 

A — Seed cotton feeder. 

B — Revolving distributor. 

C — Interior of breast. 

D — Saw cylinder. 

E — Brush. 

F — Flue to condenser. 

G — Condenser. 




Fig. 21. 
Section of Saw Gin. 



76 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

Process. 

The feeder A may be tilled with seed cotton. It has- 
means of regulation, and it will feed it with proper speed 
to the gin. The cotton in the space C is acted on by the 
saws, which pull off the lint cotton and carry it througti 
the spaces between the ribs M, while the seed, which can- 
not pass through, fall out in the front. The brush E clears 
lint cotton from the teeth of the saws and blows it through 
the flue F against the perforated drum of the condenser. 
The air passes through the perforations and the lint is de- 
Hvered on the outside of the condenser in a thick compact 
sheet. 

The pull of the saw teeth on the mass of cotton in the 
breast, causes it to revolve in the breast in a direction op- 
posite to the saws. This prevents the saws from exerting 
a.. too sudden pull on the fibres, and it also serves the pur- 
pose of bringing fresh lots of cotton into contact with the 
teeth. It is important to have the breast so shaped that 
this cotton may revolve with <-he least friction. There 
have been some patents granted on various anti-friction 
devices, for the breast, such as rollers in the front, and re- 
volving heads at the two ends of the breast. The latter 
has proven to be of permanent merit 

In the gin invented by Whitney it was necessary that 
the operation of ginning should be intermittent, ginning 
one breast full at a time, and then letting out the seed. It 
transpired, however, that w'hen Holmes constructed a gin 
with saws, the form of breast was improved; it could make 
and carry a revolving roll of cotton. The breast could be 
left a little open at the bottom and. when the seeds were 
sufificiently cleared of lint by the saws, they would drop 
loose from the roll, having no longer lint enough to keep 
themselves engaged in the roll. 

The Holmes gin works continuously, the seed cotton be- 
ing fed to it evenly, while the seed drops out as the roll 
of cotton turns in the breast. 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 



11 



Fig. 22 is a general i)ersi)ective view of the Holmes saw 
gin with feeder and condenser. 




Fig. 22. Perspective of Saw Gin. 

Figs. 21 and 22 exhibit practically the same gin as was 
tised in horse power gin houses shown in Fig. 12, except 
that feeder and condenser are added. 

In Fig. 12 the attendant must remain constantly at the 
gin to evenly feed the cotton to it. 

A gin without a condenser blows the loose, fluffy cott(jn 
into a separate room, from which it must be carried out in 
baskets to the press. The addition of the condenser, as 
in Figs. 21 and 22, greatly reduces the danger from fire, 
and enables the machinery to be more compactly arranged 

Huller Gin. 

In some sections of the country where the cotton plant 
grows very large and thick, and ripens fast, the cotton 
pickers are not careful in picking out the locks of cotton, 
but mix with the cotton some of the dried bolls, or cells 
in which it grows. These are locally called "hulls," 
(though the term is apt to be confused with cotton seed 
hulls, a product of the oil mill). A special gin has been 
designed to remove these hulls from the seed cotton, at 



78 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

the same time that the seed are removed. This is known 
as a "huller gin". 




''^niw^ 



Fig. 23. Hnller Gin. 



Fig. 23 is a section, showing the general construction of 
the huller gin. The cotton is fed into an outer breast, at 
the bottom of which is a revolving spiked roller which 
combs out the hulls, as the saws draw the cotton up into 
the main or inner breast. From the manner in which the 
cotton gets into the breast, this gin is also known as an 
"under-feed sfin." 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 79 

ilodifications of Gins. 

One maker has made a gin in which the cotton was fed 
into the end of breast and the roll forced endwise through 
the breast, the cleaned seed coming out at the other end 
A linter for oil mills has been made under this same plan. 

One maker has made a gin with sectional ribs ; that is, 
with riljs cut in two pieces, the cut being about where the 
teeth of the saws pass through the ribs and out of the breast 
box. The size of the gap must, of course, be less than the 
diameter of a cotton seed. 

One maker has made a gin without a brush, using a suc- 
tion fan to clear the saws. 

Numerous other special features have been tried, but 
none of these various modifications ha\e had any commercial 
success. 

Rating. 

All the gins are named and rated by their number oi 
saws. The early gins run by horse power had 45 saws. 
As the mechanical work on the gins became more perfect, 
and as steam came to be applied to driving gins, it was 
found that they could be made to advantage with more 
saws, so that 60-. 70- and 80-saw gins became common. 
The most popular size gin at the present time is the 70- 
saw. 

Gins are known as right or left hand, according as the 
driving pulley is on the right or left hand of the machine 
when standing in front, where the cotton is fed. Most 
gins have their brushes driven by a belt from the saw shaft, 
at the opposite end from the main drive. There is an- 
other method, however, in which the entire mechanism is 
driven with the main belt from a line shaft underneath, as 
shown in Fig. 24. 

Speeds. 

The speed of old horse power gins was 200 to 250 revo- 
lutions per minute, according as the mules or horses were 
driven slow or fast. Power gins are speeded faster, even 




Fig. 24. 
Gin Driven from Below. 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRP:SS AND GINNERY, 8 I 

up to 500 revolutions per minute, for the sake of greater 
production. The quahty of Hnt cotton produced is greatly 
impaired by high speed. The action of saw teeth at high 
speed tends to cut the fibres. The fibres are sometimes 
cut at low speeds, by improper attention to the gin. If 
the roll of seed cotton becomes obstructed, and fails to 
properly revolve in the breast, the roll "breaks'': the saws 
continue to cut through the cotton m the same place and 
the lint is said to be "gin-cut." A newly sharpened gin 
will also sometimes cut the fibres. The remedy for this 
is to fill the breast w'ith seed, close it up, so they will not 
fall out, put in a quantity of sand and run the gin until the 
sharp edges have been ground smooth. 

Wet cotton often gins badly by gumming the saws and 
by choking and causing fibres to be cut. Sometimes a 
small quantity of kerosene oil is poured in the breast with 
the wet cotton, to prevent the gumming. It is necessary 
in any case when ginning damp cotton, to occasionally 
stop the gin and clean off the saws. 

Cotton Handling Devices. 

One of the most interesting features in the advance of 
ginning machinery is the means successively adopted for 
unloading the seed cotton from the wagons of the planters 
and storing it to wait for the gin, or conveying it directly 
to the gins. 

In the old days, when each planter had his 
own gin house. with one gin, it was a 

small matter for his numerous slaves to cairy 
his seed cotton in baskets up to the gin on the second 
floor. But when the ginnery became a public institution, 
with many gins, handling ten to fifty bales of lint cotton 
per day, the subject of getting the seed cotton unloaded 
from wagons and delivered to the gin. commenced to re- 
ceive serious attention. Among the first devices used for 
this purpose, was an endless belt, carrying spikes to pick 



82 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRUvSS AND GINNERY, 



up and elevate the cotton in a manner similar to grain 
elevators, with cups on belt. 

Fig. 19 shows a gin house e(|uipped with this style of 
elevating machinery. This method has now been super- 
seded by pneumatic systems, in which a large suction fan 
operates on 12 inch galvanized iron pipes, so arranged ns 




Fig. 25. Improxed Ginnery. 

to suck the seed cotton directly from the wagons and de- 
liver it to the gins or to storage bins. Figs. 25 and 26 
and 27 exhibit some forms of this de\'ice. 

One of the peculiarities of all the industries relying upon 
crude cotton as a raw material, is that the entire business 
for the year must be crowded into the short space of time 
during which the cotton is being harvested. This pecu- 
liarity becomes more marked, as the business approaches 




< 

c 
o 



Ul 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 85 

nearer to the cotton plant itself. It reaches the limit in 
the matter of harvesting or "picking,"' so that all the labor 
of picking mnst necessarily be done as fast as the cotton 
matures. Ginning is but one degree removed from this; 
and, while a small amount of storage is possible on the plan- 
tation, yet from its great bulk this is unhandy, and the gen- 
eral practice is to have the cotton ginned as fast as picked. 
Thus it happens that a public ginnery must be equipped 
to handle large quantities of cotton at a time, during the 
picking season of three or four months, notwithstanding 
it must lie idle most of the other months of the year. In 
order to. in some measure, distribute the heavy press of 
business on some days, most ginneries have storage bins, 
capable of holding one to three bales of seed cotton in each 
bin. ( This cotton is of course not in bales, but is usually 
discussed and measured in terms of the lint cotton it will 
produce.) 

Fig. 27 shows one arrangement of storage bins. The 
suction fan can take cotton from a wagon and deliver it 
into any desired bin; or it may take it from any desired bin 
and deliver it to the gins. 

The planter's wagon is usually arranged to hold one 
bale of seed cotton. He can drive under a suction spout 
and discharge his load in five to ten minutes. At this 
rate, about six bales per hour, or 60 to 70 bales per day, 
may be handled with one suction pipe. The average 
ginnery in the Southeastern United States has one suc- 
tion pipe and four to six 70-saw gins, which, when in 
good order, and running constantly, will gin ten to 
twelve bales per day each. There are many ginneries in 
Texas equipped to gin lOO to 200 bales per day. Fig. 28 
shows such a ginnery in operation. 

The suction fans are arranged to deliver the cotton, and 
distribute it to the gins in a variety of ways, one of the 
most common being by means of an endless belt, traveling 
horizontally in a trough over the feeders By this means 
several gins may be put to work on one lot of cotton 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY, 89 

at once, so that the customer usually has but a few mui- 
utes to wait for the ginning of his load of cotton. 

The seed from the gins are sometimes removed by 
spiral conveyors, but more often by air blasts or suction.s. 
They are usually deposited in an elevated bin, so the cus- 
tomer may drive under it and receive the seed by gravity. 
Often the seed aire sold to the ginner, who may be the 
purchasing agent for an oil mill, or who may have an oil 
mill in connection with his ginnery. 

The practice of handling seed by air blast is not to be gen- 
erally recommended. In the first place, it breaks the seed 
badly, in turning corners and otherwise. Besides this the 
blast fills the seed houses with dust and lint. 

The system of running a whole battery of gins on tht 
same lot of cotton at once, led to the adoption of a de- 
sign for delivering the cotton from all the gins into 
a single condenser, instead of individual con- 
densers, as formerly This effected a saving of labor, 
and enabled the cotton to be more rapidly delivered to- 
the press. Fig. 26 shows a ginnery with several gins 
delivering into the same condenser. The air created by 
the numerous gin brushes, is discharged from the coii- 
denser through a large galvanized iron pipe seen extend- 
ing through the roof. 

The condenser delivers its thick bat of cotton directly 
iruto the press, into which it is sometimes tramped down 
by the weight of one or two men. It is more usually, 
however, tramped by means of a "steam tramper,'' whidi 
is a long steam cylinder, arranged directly over the press, 
which is, from time to time, made to operate a platen just 
fitting the press box, thus crowding enough cotton into 
the box for the principal mechanism to press into a com- 
pact bale of about 500 pounds. 

Size and Shape of Bale. 

The size and shape of the l)ale has passed through many 
changes, though varying but little from the average Fize 



90 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

of 58 inches long, 30 inches thick and 42 to 46 inches wide. 
This last dimension is the snhject of the greatest variation 
because this is determined by the amount of cotton put 
into the press, and by the hardness with which it is packed. 
Within the last few years, most ginners have united upon 
a standard for two dimensions, namelv, 54 inches lon.'^' 
and 24 inches thick. 

Designs of Presses. 

The mechanism for operating the cotton press has beeri, 
and is, of divers kinds. The first press of any gener;d 
adoption was the large wooden screw, set up outside, and 
turned by a horse cr mule, as \ariously shown in Figs. 12, 
16. 29. Afterwards, the same arrangement was 
adopted, using an iron screw in place cf wood, with the 
result of greatly reducing the size. At a later date the 
screw was arranged with clutches and gearing, so that it 
could be driven by a belt from steam or water power. 
One of these presses is exhibited in Fig. 30. 

Presses are also actuated by hydraulic power. These 
have a vertical cylinder and plunger, about 10 inches 
in diameter, and of a leng-th equal to the travel of the 
press, which is usually about seven feet. The cylinder 
is under the press box and packs up. A hydraulic pump 
forces water or oil under the plunger at about 600 pounds 
pressure per square inch on the plunger. This makes a 
total pressure on the bale of about 47,000 pounds. 

vSome presses are actuated by direct steam presssure, as 
shown in Fig. 31. These have a vertical steam cylinder 
and piston, about 30 inches in diameter, under the press 
box. Steam is admitted at boiler pressure of 70 to 100 
pounds per square inch. This gix'es a total pressure on 
the bale of 50,000 to 70.000 pounds. If the bale is t^f 
the standard size. 24x54 inches, this is equal to 40 to 50 
pounds per square inch on the bale. This is the amount 
necessary to make a bale of the a\'erage density of 14 
pounds per cubic foot, as it lea\'es the gin house. 







C 



01 

O 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 93 

Nearly all forms of commercial presses may be ar- 
ranged to pack up or down, to suit the convenience of the 
gin house. The press shown in Fig. 26 is an up-packing 
press. It shows one of the latest forms, known as the 
''revolving box press." This press has two distinct cotton 
boxes, revolving around a common centre, so that while 
a bale is being packed, and secured with ties in one box. 
the large condenser may be delivering its cotton into the 
other, so that the operation of ginning and packing arc 
very nearly continuous. 

riodern Ginnery. 

Fig. 26 shows the most advanced design of ginnery 
now in use in the Southeast for turning out the so-called 
square bale. To drive the six gins of 70 saws each, with 
the press and the suction apparatus, requires about 80 
horse power, and will gin 60 to 70 bales of cotton per day. 
It is a model of convenience, but leaves much to be de- 
sired from the standpoint of fire risk and from the stand- 
point of the mill engineer. The building should l)e of 
brick, and should be of the standard factory or slow-burn- 
ing construction. Ther. should be some provision for dis- 
posing of the great volumes of dust and lint laden air de- 
livered from the suction fans. As it is, this air fills the 
surrounding country with lint and dust. The fans should 
be arranged to discharge into a fire-proof dust room of 
ample capacity to allow it to settle and purify, before 
emerging from a tall brick flue. There are also other 
methods of disposing of the dust. It would be better to 
have all the machines consecutivel)- arranged on one floor, 
and driven from overhead shafting. The storage bins for 
seed cotton should be separated by brick walls, and the 
wdiole plant should have ample fire protection apparatus. 
Arranged in this way the insurance rates would not ex- 
ceed half of one per cent, per aninun, whereas they now 
range from 4 to 8 per cent. 

While the various machines enterins: into the organiza- 



94 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

tion of a ginnery have been \ery nuich improved by in- 
vention and design, the old traditions of having one story 
below to accommodate the rnnning gear or driv- 
ing appliances, are -^till preserved. This makes much 
waste room, and materially increases the fire risk. There 
would seem to be room for im]Drovement in modifying 
the forms of some few of the machines, so that there could 
be an organization of machinery arranged on one floor 
of a single story building, as is the case with cotton mill 
machinery. Looking to the accomplishment of the im- 
proved organization of the machiner)- in a ginning plant, 
it is desirable to have a press that would stand on the 
floor and have its parts accessible to a man standing on the 
same floor, and make a bale of suflicient density for ex- 
port. The handling machinery and condenser should also 
stand upon the floor in a similar manner. 

In the best of the so-called square bale presses, the bales 
delivered are far from satisfactory. They are not dense 
enough, the bagging" does not entirely cover the cotton^ 
and they are not sufticienth- uniform in size and weight. 

Compress. 

The density of cotton bales is increased by the "com- 
press," which is a very heavy special press, costing about 
$40,000. It is usually operated in seaport cities and in 
railroad centres to save space in transportation. These 
are usually down-packing presses made of heavy iron, ana 
using direct steam pressure. The steam cylinders are 80 
to 90 inches in diameter, and they use steam at 100 pounds 
pressure. This exerts a total pressure of 500,000 to 
600,000 pounds, or about 400 pounds per square inch on 
the bale. This reduces the width of the bale to about 20 
inches, and makes it 20x24x54. with a density of about 30 
pounds per cubic foot. Fig 32 shows a general view of one 
form of press. This press has knuckle joints to increase the 
force of the steam. 




Fig. 30. 
Modern Screw Cotton Press. 




Fig. 31. 
Steam Cotton Press. 



98 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

Ginnery Compress. 

Within the past ten ytars there has been much new work 
done in trying to produce a bale at the gin house that 
would have sul^cient density for export, and also be com- 
pletely covered with better material than the coarse jute 
bagging now in common use. 

Ginnery Compress to Make Square Bales, loo Pounds. 

Fig". ^T, shows a press that was made the basis of the 
first effort to revise the shape and weight of the bale, an-I 
compress it at the ginner}-. This was about 1880. This 
works somewhat on the order of a common hay press. 
When this effort was made, neither the commercial 
nor industrial conditions were favorable to make its in- 
troduction practicable. Transportation charges, rents, 
ginning charges, commercial compensations, commis- 
sions and other transactions in cotton were to a very large 
extent rated per ]:ale — the bale being the old standard 450 
to 500 pound plantation bale. The j:roposed press made 
the new bale about 18 inches square, weighing 
about 100 pounds, and having a density < f about 
30 pounds to the cubic foot. This is about the usual den- 
sity of the old standard bales after being compressed. It 
was proposed to bind these with wire as a hay bale is 
bound, and then to slip them into :i canvass sack, which 
could be returned to the ginner by the consumer of tht 
cotton. This press, the new style of the bale and its cov- 
ering commended itself to all intelligent people who were 
connected in any way with the cotton industry. But 
the difficulties of introducing it to supplant the old form 
bale, with the usages associated with it, were as great as 
the difficulty would be of introducing the metric system 
(notwithstanding its superiorities) into an engineering of- 
fice which contemplated continuing business with the peo- 
ple accustomed only to feet and inches. 

In spite of these difficulties, quite a number of these 
ginnery compresses were introduced. But it could at that 




Fig. 32. 
Cotton Compress with Knuckle Joints. 



LofC. 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNKRV. lOI 

time make no hea(hva}- against the inertia of the old 
system. About 1895, the controlling force of old influ- 
ences began to relax, and it began to be appreciated that 
there was needed a more convenient, more compact and 
better covered bale than the old style plantation bale. 
Public interest has stimulated the production of a number 
of l^resses designed lo produce convenient compressed 
bales at the ginnery. It is not yet apparent that any of 
these have sur|:assed the press shown in Fig. ^^. 

Ginnery Compress to Make Folded Lap Square Bales. 5oo 
Pounds. 

Among the flrst devices for completing the pressing oi 
cotton at the ginnery, turning out a bale ready for export, 
was a machine for pressing the sheet of cotton as it em- 
erged from the gin condenser. This machine consisted of 
two rolls, held tightly together as they revolved, (be- 
tween which the cotton passed), and a folder which re- 
cei\ed this compressed sheet, and folded it back and forth 
in the ordinary cotton press. The rolls performed the 
real compressing, and the ordinary cotton press merely 
closed up the layers tight and held them until the ties 
could be secured. The density of this bale was as great 
as any regularly compressed bale, 25 to 30 pounds per 
cubic foot; the bale was of the prevailing shape and size, 
and all the mechanical features seemed to be favorable to 
the general introduction of this system. But for some 
reason this system never reached any commercial impor- 
tance. The fundamental idea, however, of compressing 
a sheet of cotton between rolls, previous to baling, is suc- 
cessfully employed in one of the presses now^ in use for the 
production of the cylindrical, or so-called round bales. 



I02 MODERN COTTON GIN, rRH;SS AND GINNERY. 

Ginnery Compress to Hake Cylindrical Lap Bales, 250 
Pounds. 

Fig. 34 shows a cross section of a double continuous 
press for making cylindrical, or so-called round bales. 



Lettering. 



A — Flue leading from gins. 

B — Wire cloth cylinder. 

C — Air vent. 

D — Condensing chamber. 

EF — Compress rolls. 

G — Lap rod. 

H — Lap winding pressure roll. 

J — Hydraulic pressure cylinder. 

K — Wide rubber l^ale-supporting apron. 

L — Tightening roll. 

M — Reel for bagging. 

N — Valve board. 



Process. 

Cotton comes from the gins through flue A. The air 
current from the gin brushes, conveying the cotton, es- 
capes through the wire cloth surface B and passes out the 
open ends of the cylinder in hood leading to air vent C. 

The cotton falls into condensing chamber D. 

From condensing chamber it passes as a condensed 
sheet between the compress rolls EF. 

The compressed lap is carried by the bale-supporting 
apron K to the lap rod G. 

It is given a start by hand around the lap rod G. 

The lap winding pressure roll H is then set up by the 
hydraulic cylinder J. 

The roll H recedes under press'jre as the bale increases 
in diameter. 

As the bale increases it requires more of the apron K 




Fig. 34. Ginnery Compress, Cylindrical Lap Bale. 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND OINNERY. IO5 

to support it. This is compensated for 1)y the rising of 
the tightening roll L. 

When bale has become full size, the \alve board N is 
reversed, changing condensed sheet to companion press, 
which commences at once to make another bale. 
t'^ Bagging is led from reel M to the completed bale, robed 

once around it, cut to length and sewed lengthwise. 

Then the bale is taken out, lap rod removed and the 
bagging closed at the ends. 

The bales from this press are generally 40 inches long, 
to correspond with wiciti; of lapper in a cotton mill. They 
are made to weigh about 250 pounds, ha^'e a density of about 
30 pounds and are sold b}' samples, taken while the bale 
is being made. 

The principal objr^ctfons made to the round lap baL' 
are. (i) that the fibre is injured by the severe pressure 
put on the lap as it passes through the pressure rolls, 
(2) that the centre is so tightly wound that it is diffictilt 
to open it for use, (3) "false packing," the piu- 
ting of bad grade cotton in the centre is hard 
to detect, (4) when used by putting on opener apron and 
fed direct to picker room machinery as is intended, there is 
less mixing than is desirable for good cotton mill practice, 
( 5 ) wdien piled up in warehouse, the space between bales 
form objectionable crevices, where fire might occur and be 
entirely out of reach of fire fighting apparatus; (6) when 
these bales get wet, the layers tend to become felted and 
hard, like wood pul]) ; such layers are useless to the spinner. 



Io6 MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. 

Ginnery Compress to Make End Packed Cylindrical Bales, 
250 Pounds. 

Figs. 35 and 36 show cross sections of another press 
for making' cvhnch'ical bales. 



Lettering. 



I — Upper part of frame. 

2 — Friction roHer. 

3 — Frame of revolving baling chamloer. 

4 — Tapered portion of revolvmg baling chamber. 

5 — Slatted portion of revolving baling chamber. 

6 — Head tree to hold slotted plates. 

7 — Stationary slotted plates. 

8 — Slots in plates. 

9 — Pinion to revolve baling chamber. 

10 — Core to make hole through bale. 

II — Hopper for loose cotton. 

12 — Feeding fingers.. 

13 — Hydraulic ram. 

14 — Cap for base of bale. 

15 — Severing knives, attached to baling chamber. 

16 — Radial slide for knife. 

17 — Severing kni\-es, separate from lialing chan_"i- 

ber. 
18 — Knife rods. 
19 — Movable bale carrier. 
20 — Radial arm for bale carrier. 

Process. 

Cotton is piled into hopper 11. 

Fingers 12 force portions of cotton through slots in 
plate 7. 

Cotton in revolving chamber 4 catches the loose cotton 
and draws it under the plate. The raper in this revolving 
chaml)er and the pressure of the hydraulic ram from be- 
low, ]^ack the bale. 




Fig. 35. Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND CxINNERV. IO9 

As the loose cotton continues to Ije drawn in, the hiile 
grows, and passes on into the basket section 5. 

The bale base on hydraulic lam is forced up against the 
bale and resists the downward passage with a definite 
pressure. As bale grows this forces the ram (h^wn. 

When proper length of bale is made, the bale base 14 
engages the knife bar 18 which operates the knives 17 
to cut off the l)ale. while knives i 5 support the cotton re- 
maining in the chamber 5. 

Ram 13 is lowered out of the way of bale base 14. 

Bale base 14 is caught on radial arm 20 and swung out 
of the way, carrying the bale with it. 

The bale is tied with wire and slipped into a sack and 
tied. 

Another bale base is swung into |)osition. 

Ram is run up to bottom of baling chamber, the knives 
are withdrawn, and another bale proceeds from the baling 
chamber. 

This press makes an acceptal)le bale. 

The disadvantages of this press are, ( i ) the greai friction 
on the cotton as it is drawn through and under the slotted 
plates has a tendency to burn the cotton, or to discolor it by 
scorching. (2) There must always remain a certain amount 
of cotton in the press. This makes it inconvenient in public 
ginneries, where each customer wants his cotton kept sepa- 
rate, and wants it all, as soon as it is ginned. ( 3 ) Same 
insurance objections as to round lap bale. (4) Additional 
insurance objection on account of o'pening length ways (like 
a "Tack-in-the-box") when wires break, under the action of 
heat. ( 5) Hardened edges, on account of friction in taper 
l)ale chamber. 



no MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY; 

Ginnery Compress For flaking End Packed Cylindrical 
Bales, 250 Pounds. 

Fig's, ^y and 38 show cross sections of still another 
press for making round Ijales. 



Lettering. 



I — Base plate. 

2 — Supporting columns. 

3 — Annular top frame. 

4 — Head tree. 

5 — Annular rotating ring with bearings to carry 
compression rolls. 

6 — Bearings of compression rolls. 

7 — Neck of compression rolls. 

8 — Compression rolls. 

9 — Bevel gear to rotate rolls, 

10 — Stationary rack on which pinion rolls. 

II — Anti-friction rollers. 

12 — Hopper for cotton. 

13 — Core to make hole in bale. 

14 — Frame for holding interchangeable baling 
chambers 

15-16 — Split ring and bars. 

17 — Hinges. 

18 — Latch. 

19 — Base of baling chamber. 

20 — Hydraulic cylinder. 

21 — Annular hydraulic ram to carry baling cham- 
ber. 

22 — Inner hydraulic ram, to press the bale. 

Process. 

Inner hydraulic ran: 22 forces base of baling chamber 19 
up against rolls 8. 

Cotton is put in hopper 12. 




Fig. 37. Ginnery Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale. 




Fig. 38. Ginnen- Compress, End Packed Cylindrical Bale 




c 

o 



o 



CO 

o 



MODERN COTTON GIN, PRESS AND GINNERY. II5 

Shaft and pinion 26 and 25 transmit rotary motion to 
annular ring 5, carrying compression rolls 8. 

Compression rolls 8 are carried around by rotating ring 
5, and are at the same time rotated on their own axes. 

Cotton is drawn under rolls 8 and compressed against 
base of baling chamber 19, which is held hard by the hy- 
draulic pressure, under the inner ram. 

As the bale grows, inner hydraulic ram is pressed lower, 
until bale is finished. 

When bale is finished, rams are lowered out of the way, 
baling chamber is swung out, bale is tied with wire and 
put into a sack. Meantime, another baling chamber is 
swung into the press to receive the next bale. 

This is a late design of press for making round bales, 
which is not yet on the market, and whose advantages 
and disadvantages have not yet been determined. 

Many efforts are now being made to produce a satisfac- 
tory press to make, at the ginnery, a bale of sufficient den- 
sity for export, and at the same time meet the require- 
ments of the domestic market. The accomplishment of 
such a result w^ould seem very desirable. Several such 
machines now being introduced seem to give fair promise 
of success. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Zbc BMantino, Cultivation an^ Ibarvcstino 
of Cotton. 

The cotton herein discussed is the upland varieties of 
Gossypium Herbaceum cuhivated in the Southern United 
States. 

Varieties. 

Without entering- into the history of this plant and 
4ts numberless varieties, a few of the best kinds will ^e 
studied. The method of preparing lands, planting, fer- 
tilizing, cultivating and ginning will apply equally well 
to most of the other varieties of upland cotton. The se- 
lection of the particular variety of cotton adapted to an}- 
special locality, with its surrounding conditions of cli- 
mate, weather, soil, labor, etc., caniiOt be predetermined, 
in the absence of some precedent in that locality. The 
best that can be done is to select such varieties as have 
proven best under similar environments, and to finally de- 
velop the particular habit of plant best suited to that lo- 
cality, by a process of annually selecting seed and culti- 
vating. For example, if the ground is very rich and ca- 
pable of developing large plants with many bolls, a large 
variety should be selected at the start, and seed should 
be selected each successive year from the largest and best 
fruited stalks, at a period of its growth when its fruit is in 
the most perfect condition. If the ravages of leaf in- 
sects are to be feared, cotton with a low habit and a min- 
imum amount of foliage should be selected and bred, ff 
labor is scarce at any particular season of the year, cotton 
should be selected which will be ready for the harvest as 
nearly as possible at other seasons. If labor is abundant 
and cheap at all seasons of the year, it is, in general more 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. II9 

piofitable to cultivate a variety whose maturity will ex- 
tend over a prolonged period. This necessitates a larger 
number of successive pickings, but contributes in the end 
to a larger yield of the plant. On the other hand, if labor 
is scarce, a variety must be selected that will require the 
smallest number of separate pickings, thus enabling the 
laborer to pick a lar;^er quantity per day. As an example 
of two extremes in this particular, the variety known as 
"King" produces .^.o per cent, at the first picking and 40 
per cent, at the second picking, at dates about two weeks 
apart. The remaining 20 per cent, has to be gathered in 
from two to three more pickings. The variety "Texas 
Oak" appears to give the greatest yield of upland cot- 
ton, and it yields to per cent at first picking, 40 per cent, 
at second and 40 per cent, at third. 

The method above outlined for gradually breeding the 
special variety adapted to a certain condition, may be 
termed artificial selection, which is based on the same 
laws as natural selection. In addition to this, the method 
of hybridization has been widely and successfully adopte-i 
in the breeding of cotton varieties. This is accomplished 
by cutting out the stamens from the flower of one plant 
and artificially fertilizing the pistil of this flower with the 
pollen dusted from the stamen of a flower from a plant ci 
another variety. The flower thus impregnated producs 
a boll of cotton, whose seeds partake more or less of the 
characteristics of both parents. The seeds produce a new 
hybrid variety. This in turn may be hybridized, so that 
by proper skill, any given characteristic may be accentu- 
ated to any desired extent. These cotton hybrids, like 
most other hybrids, are liable to great variation, and 
great care is necessary, for several generations, to pro- 
duce a new^ variety which shall remain stable and true to 
name. 

Range of Locality. 

All varieties of cotton may be grown through a wide 
range of latitude, and various conditiors ci soil and 



I20 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

vicissitudes of weather, without fertihzing, and with the 
simplest methods oi culture. This was abundantly dem- 
onstrated in the Southern United States, on the libera- 
tion of its slaves. These people were absolutely without 
education, and totally incapable of thinking or planning' 
for themselves. They naturally contmued farming as an 
cccupation, but signally failed in all crops l)ut cotton, 
which grew in spite of any method or lack of method. 
But in modern and intelligent cotton farming, the proRt 
arises from carefully considering ail the details as to va- 
rieties and farming operations. 

Habits. 

Cotton is plants 1 in early spring, and germinates in 
tlnee or four days. In about one month it begins to pro- 
duce buds. The buds are developed in a large 
involucre which, from its shrpe, gi-.es to the bud 
the local name "square." See Fig. 40A. Aftera-'- 
other month, when the plant is 10 to 15 inches high, 
this bud opens and produces a . white flower about 
i^ inches long, and and about the same diameter. See 
Fig. 40B. The petals turn pink the second mor-ing aft^r 
its appearance, and orop off tne third, leaving the small 
ovary abcut ^r inches in diameter, within the involucre. 
This ovary is known as the "boll," and grows, after about 
one month, to full maturity, being then ovoid and about 
ixi^ inches in diameter. See Fig. 41 A. The plant is 
then mature, and is about 4 feet high. The boll ripens 
in from one to two months, turning from a bright green 
to browai, and. becoming dry, cracks open, separating 
into about five segments. See Fig. 41 B. • W'thin each 
of these segments lightly adheres the lint .'cotton sur- 
rounding the seed, abcut 32 in number. See Fig. 42. 
These separate cotton segments are called "locks." Cot- 
ton in this condition is generally called ''seed cotton," as 
distinguished from "lint cotton." which is the product 




o 



bvD 






6 




w 



pi 



C 



CQ 



PI.ANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 1 25 

without the seed, being the article known in commerce as 
"cotton." There are usually about lo.ooo cotton plants 
per acre. 

Yield. 

The average yield under moderate cultivation is about 
i-io lbs. of seed ccUton per plant, about 1-3 of which is 
lint, and 2-3 seed. These yields and proportions vary, of 
course, with variety of cotton and mode of treatment. 
The long period re'']uired for the growth and maturity 
of cotton, while rendering inconvenient the growth of other 
crops on the same land in the same year, possesses the 
great advantages of enabling the plant to average up in 
its lifetime, extreme variations in heat, cold, moisture and 
drought: thus a total failure of the cotton crop is practi- 
cally impossible. 

5oil. 

Ideal soil for the production of cotton is considered to 
be fine sandy loam, underlaid with clay; the sand serving 
to transmit heat and air to the roots, and the clay sub-soil 
to retain moisture and prevent .caching away of fertilizers. 
Natural fertility in soil, seems not to be permanent, because, 
Avithout the annual application of fertilizers, cotton, like all 
other plants, would, in time, exhaust the land. This time 
would naturally be longer, the more fertile the soil. 
But it follows that land which is fertile by nature, is also 
a land which will conserve artificial fertilizers. 

Fertilizers. 

While cotton responds most generously to the appli- 
cation of fertiHzers, it is not possible to indefinitely in- 
crease this yield. The limit of increase depends upon the 
character of the soil. Though in any soil this limit of in- 
crease may be extended by judicious treatment. The 
reaching of this limit is analogous to the correct propor- 



126 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND .HARVESTING. 

tions of a mechanical structure like a bridge. There 
must be the proper materials, they must be properly dis- 
tributed and of the proper weight. In this condition, 
any increase in the amount of material used actually de- 
tracts from the utility of the structure. But it is always 
possible by readjusring supports, to add new strength 
by the addition of more material. 

T-he"pro])er method of proportioning and mixing the in- 
gredients to produce the desired results, is fully treated in 
the chapter on Fertilizers. 

Draft on the Soil. 

The cotton plant takes less from the soil than most other 
crops. If the actual elements of nutrition which this plant 
requires, be annually restored to the soil, cotton may be 
profitably grown on the same land annually for all time, 
without any rotation, other than that gained by planting 
the rows of cotton each year, between the rows of the pre- 
vious year. 

Implements for Cultivation. 

Owing to the low mechanical ability in the class of 
labor that was heretofore almost universal in cotton farming 
in the United States, advancement toward scientific and 
complicated agricultural implements has been exceedingly 
slow. Nothing but the least complicated implements have 
maintained their supremacy, those wiiich can be easily re- 
paired at the plantation blacksmith shop. 

The motive power was the mule ; the transmission appa- 
ratus was harness with the least number of parts, made 
of corn husks, cotton ropes and bands and chains (locally 
known as "gear") ; the plow was as simple as could be made, 
with no adjustments save as to the "point"; the guiding 
hand was the negro. This was a congenial and a harmoni- 
ous whole, which the natural law of evolution developed 
as the most profitable engine — the white man being the 





o 



o 



O 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 1 29 

engineer — for the |)r.)diiclic)n of the largest share of the; 
world's cotton crop. 

As one after anoiher of social and racial conditions 
have changed, changes naturally occurred in agricultural 
implements. As the price of plantation labor materially 
advanced. lalx)r saving implements naturally came into 
being, and they were adjusted to suit the conditions. 

Figure 43 exhibits the common form of plow, as a 
whole; the iron part, shown bolted on at the extreme bot- 
tom, being know^n as the "plow "point," and the rest of it 
as the "plow stock." The point of attachment at the ex- 
treme right has two divisions; if the draft arrangement is 
put in the lower divijion, the plow runs shallower, and if 
in the upper division, deeper. Formerly the entire plov/ 
stock was made of c^ik. only the point being iron or steel. 
It is now' the univer.-al practice to make them with the 
iron foot, as shown The handles are 24 inches apart, 
and the length of beam 44 inches. The weight is about 
40 pounds. 

Figure 44 shows some of the plow points. No. 3 is 
the "shovel." It measures 10 inches wide and 12 inches 
long. It is principally used to run the last or middle furrow 
in making the "bed." as described in the paragraph on 
Preparation of Land. No. 4 is the "scooter," or "bull- 
tongue." It is 4^ ii:ches wide and 12 inches long. It is 
used to run the first or laying-off furrows in bedding, an-.l 
to run in many of the subsequent furrows for deepening 
them. It is also used as a part of a combination shown 
hereafter. Nos. 5 and 6 are different forms of the sweep. 
No. 5 is 20 inches wide and 12 inches long. No 6 is 20 
inches wide and 12 mches long. The sweep is used in 
cultivating growing cotton, to kill grass while loosening 
up the earth to the shallowest possible amount. The 
sweep is intended to be wide enough from tip to tip to go 
over in two runs the entire si:)ace between two adjacent 
cotton rows, running as near each row of jilants as pos- 
sible not to actuallv cut them. 



130 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVEvSTING. 

In Figure 45, Nos. i and 2 are different forms of the 
turn plow used for general purposes in breaking up land, 
and for bedding. No. i is 7^ inches wide and 12 inches 
long. No. 2 is 7 inches wide and 16 inches long. No. S 
is another form of sweep, built up of three parts: two sep- 
arable "wings," and the centre part, which is the scooter 
shown at No. 4, Figure 44. The three parts are shown 
in Figure 46 bolted together with the "heel bolt," which 
is the bolt used to fasten plow points to the plow stock. 
This bolt has a thumb nut, which can be screwed up bv 
hand and made tigi.i; by striking with a heavy stick or 
stone, or any object convenient in the field. The width 
of this is about the same as other sweeps. The centre 
piece is put on for a guide to steady the plow in its course. 
It enters the ground far enough away from the plant not 
to cut the roots, especially when the plant is young. No. 
6, Figure 44, runs shallower, and is a better fc^rm to use 
as the plant grows older and the roots reach farther. 

Figure 46 sh(jws another sweep built up of two pieces; 
the same scooter (No. 4, Fig. 44), for a centr.e, and a flat 
piece of steel (No. 7) beu't around, to form the wingb. 
This is about ^ inches thick and 3 inches broad. Built-up 
sW'Ceps are easier to make and repair than the solid kinds, 
and they can be made from the ordinary small sizes of bar 
steel kept around the shop or in stock at the village 
stores. No. 10 is the hoe used for "chopping out" cot- 
ton, or killing the ^inperfluous plants, to leave growing 
plants at a certain distance apart in the row. The blade 
i.- 7 inches wide and 6 inches long. The handle is 64 
inches long. 

Figure 47 shows two fertilizer distributors; one a tin 
funnel with long spout, and the other a more advanced 
form. The funnel is 5 inches wide at the mouth and 42 
inches long. It is colloquially known as a "guano horn." 
A man carries it by means of a rope tied in the two rings, 
and slung over the shoulder, so that the spout trails in 
the furrow. He also carries a sack of guano, so placed 






^^ .>^^/»rfs l^nj Co 




P'iG. 4-1 . Sundry Plow Points. 






:^df^afr/c^i, r^iy (, 




Fig. 43. Sundry Plcnv Points. 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. I 35 

that he can easily take out a cup-full at a time, and throw 
it in the funnel as uriformly as possible while he walks. 
The funnel prevents wind from scattering the guano. 
The machine shown in Figure 47 is pushed by hand so 
that the wheel folio vvs down the furrow. Guano runs out 
of the hopper into tlie shaker, which is agitated by means 
of cams on side of \,heel. The amount distributed may 
be adjusted by a thumb nut on top. which regulates the 
distance that shaker hangs from bottom of hopper. 
The machine is 66 inches long and 24 inches wide l)etween 
handles, and weighs 40 pounds. 

Figure 48 is a cotton planter, which makes a small fur- 
row, drops seed in it at a uniform rate, and covers it. It 
consists of a hopper, holding about half bushel of seed, 
supported by two be.ims which meet in front, and diverge 
to the handles in the rear. In the extreme front, at left 
of figure, is a plate with holes in it tor attaching the draft 
arrangement for mule. Directly back of that is a narrow 
plow arranged to adjust at varying depths to open the 
seed furrow. Next comes a wooden wheel following in 
the furrow. A crank is attached to the axis of wheel, 
which oscillates by means of a connecting rod, a smaill shaft 
in hopper. This shaft carries long teeth at right angles 
to it. to agitate the seed and force them out at the open- 
ing in bottom. This agitation is necessary to make the 
seed fall out, because the particles of adhering lint cause 
them to stick together and pack. Behind the seed apert- 
ure, follows the covering board, attached to the frame of 
machine by long springs, to compensate for unevenne?s of 
ground. The machine is about the same size as the ferti- 
lizer distributor and weighs 60 pounds. 

Figure 49 is a large sub-soiler, which is but rarely used. 
Something similar -s in use in parts of Texas for origin- 
ally breaking up prairie lands and putting them in tilth. 
It is somewhat larger than the ordinary plow, and on ac- 
count of the heavy "point," weighs 100 pounds. The 
plow points for use with this plow are cast steel, made 



136 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

separable, so tliat p;;rts most (|uickly worn may be re- 
placed. 

Plow points shown in 1^'ignres 44 and 45 were fcjrmerly 
made of wrought iron, and had the points plaited or 
"laid,' by welding on narrow- pieces of steel. Bars of iron 
about 3-8 inches thick and of just the right w^idth for the 
various plows, were usually bought, along with othet 
plantation supplies, and the plows were forged at honie. 
Now, however, it is the custom to buy plows from the 
implement factories, where they are shaped out of solid 
steel by special machir.es, and are cheaper and better than 
the home-made article. In any case it is necessary to 
liave a blacksmith forge for sharpening plows on the 
j)lantation. It is esjjecially desirable to ahvays keep sweeps 
as sharp as possible, to the end that they may not fail to 
cut all grass and weeds between cotton rows. 

Preparation of Land. 

Land which has never been under cultivation lor any 
crop should be put in readiness for cotton crop in the 
same general way as for other crops, that is: cleared of all 
rubbish of whaicve nature, and plowed up, to get the 
land in good "tilth." Except in the case of prairie lands, 
where heavy grass covers the ground, this preparation 
should l)e accom])r:s!ied as late as possible in the spring, 
just in time to be ready before planting. Some planters 
make a practice of i)rcparing cotton kinds in the fall for 
the next s])ring pkniting; but it has I~>een abundantly 
proven that, (excp]:)t for special reasons hereafter men- 
tioned) such w'ork. on the average cotton land, is worse 
than useless, for the reason that it softens the 
land for the reception of wmter rains, which 
leach away much natural ])lant food. The prac- 
tice of fall preparation originated in Northern lati- 
tudes, where much snow falls, and where deep freezing is 
f?cilitated. Both of these matters are of recognized 
value to the land. 




X 



X 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 1 39 

All vegetable mntter when properly decomposed, is 
valuable plant food; therefore if the proposed field is cov- 
ered with dead grass and roots, it should be plowed under 
in order that it may decompose and furnish food for 
the new- cotton crop. This is a matter requiring careful 
judgment, in estimating whether the expense involved 
in turning under the particular grass in question will bring 
a commensurate return as a fertilizer on that particular 
land. Its value will always be in its nitrogen; and, if the 
land happens to be already rich in ihat element, as in the 
■case of lands in river bottoms and cane brakes, the 
additional nitrogen is not profitable. 

When breaking up land, the plowing must be 
as deep as possible, and done when the ground is in the 
right condition as to moisture, so that it will not clod. 
If, from the nature of the land, clods are inevitable, the 
harrow^ must follow. No crop may be successfully 
raised in soil where lumps and clods exist to an extent to 
prevent uniformit}' in jilanting, covering and cultivating. 

When, by the foregoing operations, the ground is 
brought into good tilth," the operation of "bedding" is 
begun. 

This is the throwir.g up of wide elevated ridges, in the 
centre and top of which, the seed is to be drilled. The 
width of these beds is therefore determined by the width 
decided upon for the cotton rows. The entire field is 
made up into these alternate beds and "middles" or cen- 
tre furrows. The w'dth of the cotton rows in the South- 
ern States of America is by common consent made four 
feet, while in the Southwestern prairies, and in the Mis- 
sissippi bottoms, rows are sometimes six feet. The gen- 
eral rule may l)e stated that rows are to be laid off a dis- 
tance equal to the average height attained by the plant. 

The first operation in bedding, is plowing a series of 
furrows throughout the field, at proper distance apart for 
the row^s. (say four feet). On hillsides these rows must 
run in contours, around the hill, in order to keep as near 



140 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

level as possiljle, to prevent washing- by heavy rains. 
Cotton does just aj: well, if not better, on level ground, 
and whenever possible, fairly level ground should he 
chcsen. In this case, rows are generally run north and 
south with an idea to catch the sun more fully between them, 
and are as straight as they can be plowed. The usual 
method of laying off rows in the Southeastern States of 
America is to set up a tall pole (with a piece of cotton or 
white paper on the top end to make :t visible) at the north- 
western corner of the held. Start the plow at the south- 
western corner; but Ijefore proceeding" set up another pole 
four feet east of starting point, for a target for the return 
row. Plow straight toward the pole at northwestern 
corner, driving the mule so that the pole is always visible 
between his ears, and holding the jjIow steady. At the 
end of the row (which on level ground may be half a mile 
long) move the pole eight feet to the east for the next 
target, and plow souih, towards the pcle set up at the be- 
ginning. An experienced man can layoff rows l)y this 
method as straight as if run with a transit. A scooter (4) 
is the usual plow for this purpose. It does not make a 
furrow deep enough, but any deep running plow would be 
difficult to hold in its course with r-ufificient accuracy for 
spacing off the rows. Another scooter should follow in 
the same furrow, and make it altogether at least 12 inches 
deep. In this deep centre furrow should be distributed 
the fertilizer, of the amount and kind set forth in the chap- 
ter on fertilizers. It should l^e applied with a ferti- 
lizer distributor. See Fig. 47. This machine can be ad- 
justed to evenly del"ver any required amoimt. Otlier 
plows follow^ each olher on each side of the centre furrow, 
throwing the soil toward the centre, imtil they reach half 
the distance to the adjacent row. This half-w^ay line is 
called the "middle." The plows used in bedding are, 
first, the scooter(4) ici laying off and sub-soiling in same 
furrow; then the turn plow (2) on each side, followed by 
a scooter for deepening, in same furrow. This is repeated' 




o 






..„J 




ci 
E 



O 



CO 

o 

to 



PLA.NT1NG, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 1 45 

in furrow after furrjw until the ■'middles" are reached. 
One line is plowed down the middle with a shovel (3). It 
requires about 1 1 furrows to complete the '"bed,"' 
which forms a ridge lour feet wide and rising above tlie 
natural level of ground some six inches, flanked on 
each side by "middles/" which appear like flat gullies some 
six inches below natural level. The ridge itself thus ap- 
pears to be about 12 inches high. The fertilizer is thus 
buried in the centre of ridge about 18 inches deep. 

One of the cardinal points is to get deep tilth 
in order to induce cotton roots to grow deep in the 
ground. Cotton has a tap root, which will, under 
favorable conditions, go fovu" feet deep in search of food 
and moisture. The deeper that ground can be stirred in 
preparation, the deeper the roots will run, thus obtaining' 
a firm hold against storms, and providing the plant with 
moisture during droughts. It might naturally be in- 
ferred that the deep plowing required, could he 
obtained with fewer furrowings by using a heavy 
two-horse plow like that shown in Figure 49. 
There are condition^- where this might be true. The soil 
must be very sandy or friable, so that the large rolls of 
earth, turned up at each furrow, will naturally fall in a 
finely divided state. The soil must not be too damp, or 
the large plow will inc^'itably leave lumps, while relatively 
small plows repeated in the same furrow% as described, 
will reach as deep, and tend to puherize any kind of soil. 
If the heavy plow be used, and large clods result while 
bedding, the evil cannot be remedied with a harrow, as 
is the case of ordinary breaking up of lands, for the reason 
that harrowing would destroy the ^hape of the bed. 

The time required to make beds for cotton, not includ- 
ing any preliminary process of clearmg the land and put- 
ting it in "tilth," is based on the average distance walked 
by a mule while drawing a plow, say 17 miles per day. 
For row's four feet vx'ide 11 furrows per row, there are 
22 miles of furrows per acre, hence one plow can bed .8 



146 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

acres per day. The number of irmles and plow hands 
must be so calculated that all the land designed to be 
planted in cotton, may be prepared within one month 
pre\'ious to the date of planting. This limit is arbitrary, 
but is based on the fact that (within practical limits) the 
shorter time the beds lie exposed to the weather before 
receixing seed, the loss chance there is for leachmg away 
the fertilizers, and ^vM- settling and hardening of the soil. 
At the rate above mentioned, one plow can bed about 2a 
.acres per month. This allowance is about the usual prac- 
tice, and provides f.n- spare time to devote to small food 
crops generally considered essential in connection with 
cotton farming. 

If cotton is to be planted in a field which has just pro- 
duced a crop of cotton, the laying out of rows is simplified, 
l)ecause the dd beds serve as markers. The new 
l^eds are arranged to lie exactly over the old middles, and 
vice versa. This alhnvs a given strip of land to rest, and to 
raise cotton alternate years. This i)ractice has the further 
advantage of allowing the fertilizer furrow to go deeper, as 
it is already somewhat lower than the top of the bed. 

Planting. 

The date of planting cotton varies with the climate and 
with the seasons, from March loth m Southern Texas to 
Alay 1st in North Carolina. The theory is to plant 
as early as it can be safely assumed that there is no danger 
from frost. The young cotton plant is very easily dam- 
aged. It will stand consideral)le frost without being ac- 
tually killed; but it is inevitably stunted, and frequently to 
such an extent that other cotton planted two weeks later 
may thrive and produce much better. Cotton has been 
known to mature a good crop in the State of Georgi-i 
when planted June i.^t. although the usual date of planting 
there is April loth. This is mentioned to show the possi- 
bilities in the case when the weather conditions are just 
right. But such planting as a rule would only be experi- 




o 

"o 
CO 

ON 

-^ 

6 

I— I 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. I49 

mental. Early plaiuing is desirable in order to give the 
plant time to get a firm hold on the soil, during spring" 
rains, in order to survive the long summer droughts, 
(about 100 days) Ui,ual in cotton growing localities. 
Late planting is generally productive of inferior lint. 

A shallow furrow, some three inches deep, is opened in 
the middle of the bed and the seed drilled in and covered 
one to two inches deep. The earlier that cotton is 
planted, the more b'ghtly must it be covered, because the 
ground is colder, anc the seed has less warmth to make it 
germinate. An implement called the "cotton planter" 
(Figure 48) is used for the complete operation of opening 
the furrow, sowing the seed and covering. It is drawn 
by a mule in the same manner as a plow, and can be ad- 
justed to distribute seed as thinly or thickly as desired. 
One man and mule can plant with this implement six to 
eight acres per day, and it is done with great regularity. 
Formerly the planting was done by opening places in the 
bed with a hoe (10) at more or less regular intervals, and 
dropping a handful of seed into each place, and covering 
with the hoe. This work was done by women. A good 
day's work was one acre per day. Four times as much 
seed w^as used as with the latter method. The result, too, 
was not so good, some seed being planted deeper than 
others, so that some plants came up later than others. 

Although the cotton plants, when mature, never stand 
less than one foot apart, the intention is to drop with the 
cotton planter one seed every inch. This is tO' allow for 
any irregularity in the working of the implement, and for 
faulty seed. When the plants come up, they are all thin- 
ned to the required distance, as hereafter described. 
Seed is so cheap that but little effort is made to econo- 
mize in the amount planted. When costly, selected seed 
is used, or when, for other reasons the price is high, the 
amount sowed may be w ith profit reduced. 

At the rate of one seed per inch in rows four feet apart. 
131,000 seeds are reciuired per acre.. As there are about 



150 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

5,000 seed per pound it requires 2b pounds, or nearly a 
bushel per acre. As the plants are to finally stand only 
one-twelfth the planted distance, it is obvious that, under 
the most economical system used at present, eleven- 
twelfths, or over 90 per cent, of the seed is wasted. 

The object in plarting cotton in ridges, as described, 
is primarily to drain it of surplus water. The plant does 
not recjuire much water at the surface of the ground. In- 
cidently, the elevated bed or ridge, gives the roots freer 
access to heat and air. The "middles'" form a complete 
drainage system for the field, rendering it impossible for 
puddles of water to stand in the cotton. 

Cultivation. 

Within three to six ciays after planting (depending on 
weather and on care in planting) the cotton plant ap- 
pears with two (false) leaves above ground, standing 
thick in rows. When it attains its third leaf it is three to 
five inches high, and is two to four weeks old. This is 
the season for thinning out (called "chopping") to the re- 
quired distance. This is done with the hoe (10). and the 
intention is to leave only one stalk in a place. The proper 
distance for plants to stand in the row has never been defi- 
nitely fixed, some good planters preferring only 9 inches, 
while others, equally as successful, contend for twice this 
distance. It would seem, therefore, under average condi- 
tions, that the distance apart, within these limits, makes 
but little difference m the ultimate yield of cotton. The 
closer the plants stand, the greater the number that may 
stand on a given area, but (ordinarily) the less yield per 
plant. Certain conditions of soil and climate, how- 
ever, seem to produce better at one distance than another. 
It is well known, for instance, that thick planting superin- 
duces early maturity, so that, if for reasons of early frost 
in the autumn, or for fear of some late insect pest, it is de- 
sired to hasten the maturity of the crop, thick planting 
would be preferred. On the whole, it would seem bet- 




Fig. 50. Gang Plow for Culti\atina- Cotton. 



152 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

ter practice to leave the plants not more than 12 inches 
apart, and trust to ]:igh fertilization and cultivation to 
make each plant produce its maximum. Having- deter- 
mined upon the desired distance, a hoe must be selected 
whose width shall be ecjual to that distance, or one-half 
or one-third of it, so that the chopping may be systematic- 
ally performed. The average hoe is seven inches wide, 
and this has been frequently a factor in fixing a distance 
between plants at 14 inches, so that there would be two 
chops between the plants. 

Experienced choppers perform the w^ork with great ac- 
curacy, and do about two acres per day. A matter of the 
greatest importance in chopping cotton is to have the 
hoes sharp, in order to cleanly cut the surpertluous plants, 
and not tear them out of the ground, to the detriment of 
the remaining plants. Care must be exercised not to cut 
the ground too deeply and thus disturb the roots of the 
young and tender plants. This, in fact, is a point to be 
insisted upon in every stage of cultivation. 

Re-Planting. 

If, after chopping out, any misfortune befalls the plant^^ 
such as late frost, or the ravages of cut worms, so that 
many scattering plants die, the first thing to suggest it- 
self is re-planting the vacant spaces. This must neces- 
sarily be done by hand, that is, with the hoe. Formerly 
this was much practiced; but it was in the day when all 
seeds were originally planted by hand. Thus, re-planting 
in spots would be cheaper than uprooting the entire crop 
and replanting all at once. At the present time, this lat- 
ter is almost universally resorted to, owing to the fact that 
the entire crop can be re-planted with the cotton planting 
machine cheaper than planting the missing spots by hand; 
enough cheaper, in fact, to more than pay for the seed and 
the expense of chopping out again. Procedure on the 
above basis developed another important point, whicii 
has since been applied as a general principle to other crops 




Fig. 51. Snlky Plow for Cultivating Cotton. 



154 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

as well, namely : re-planting a crop produces plants of dif- 
ferent age from the original planting, and hence in all 
subsequent cultivation, the operation which is correct at 
any given time for the first planted crop, is too early for 
the re-planted crop, and vice versa. If proper judgment 
is exercised, however, in fixing the date of planting, it is 
extremely rare that any re-planting is necessary. In the 
matter of frost, it must not be too hastily assumed that the 
young plant is killed because it hes withered on the 
ground. It sometimes happens that apparently dead 
plants will revive after a frost, under the right condition 
of weather, and grow to perfect maturity. 

Plowing. 

When the plant is about two or three weeks old, the 
first plowing" for culti\'ation begins. This is generally 
done with the sweep (6), which is made in a variety 
of forms, but all havhig for the central idea, a broad and 
exceedingly shallow cut, not exceeding one-half inch. 
The object of this plow is to cut ofif grass and weeds grow- 
ing between the rows, and to break the hard crust on the 
surface, all without in the slightest degree cutting or dis- 
turbing the cotton roots. "Deep preparation and shal- 
low cultivation" musi be the planter's motto. This sort 
of cultivation produces the efifect of mulching. It keeps 
the ground more moist then when left to crust over. The 
crust consists oi numerous capillary tubes which bring up 
moisture and let it evaporate. Breaking up the crust de- 
stroys these capillaries. It has become a homely proverb 
that "two good plowings equal a rain." 

The sweep is so constructed that two furrows with it 
will about cover the space between the planted rows. Two 
furrows per row of cotton, then, is the required amount of 
plowing for this operation, and one man can plow four 
acres per day. 

This same kind of plowing must be repeated about 
every three wrecks, at times when the weather seems fa- 




Fig. 52. Disc Cultivator for Cotton. 



156 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

vorable, that is, not too wet. Dry weather must never 
interfere. This intermittent plowing is kept up until the 
plants are well fruited, say August ist, thus requiring 
about five plowings, or equal to i;^ days work for one plow 
per acre. The number of plow^s assigned to this work 
may be so proportioned on a large farm, that they are just 
able to plow once around in three weeks, so that when 
they have finished work at one edge of the farm, the first 
edge is ready for the second plowing". The sweeps some- 
time leave a small strip in the iiiddles, which may be 
plowed out occasionally with a shovel (3), if it appears to 
be necessary. This is colloquially called "bursting out 
middles." 

Hoeing. 

It is sometimes, tliough seldom, considered profitable 
to hoe cotton, at intervals between plowings. This is to 
cultivate the spaces Ijetween plants in the row, for the 
same purpose as plow'ing between the rows. Great care 
is necessary in hoeing to avoid damaging the limbs of 
plants. The hoe mu?t not be raised more than 18 inches 
from the ground, and it must never strike any part of the 
plant. It is, under a'* erage conditions, of doubtful profit 
When cotton is origiiially chopped out, any grass or weeds 
disposed to germinate in the row are supposed to be kill- 
ed, along with the surplus cotton plants, and the plowing 
between rows is mostly suf^cient to keep the entire 
crop clean. But, at \vhatever cost, the field must be kept 
clear of foreign vegetation. It is self-evident that all the 
moisture and plant food consumed by foreign vegetation 
must be drawn from that designed for the planted crop. 

"Laying By." 

After the last plowing, say one month before the cotton 
begins to open, the crop is said to be "laid by," and re- • 
quires no more work o^ any description until picking time. 



1 




Fig. 53. Cotton Stalk Cutter. 



158 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

Grass and weeds will grow in the rows to some extent, ])nt 
as the fruit is already developed, it does not interfere with 
the crop. 

All of the work above outlined to bring cotton to the 
point of harvesting (not including possible extermination 
of insect enemies) consists of: 

Bedding and fertilizing ii furrows per row 

Planting i furrow per row 

Chopi)ing out, one hoeing. 

Cultivating (five times) 10 furrows per row 

Total plowing 22 furrows per row- 
Total hoeing, i. 

When rows are four feet apart, the total equivalent time 
is one man and one m.ule twO' and three-quarter days per 
acre, one woman (to chop out) one-half day per acre. 

Improved Methods. 

The f(jregoing description of the production of a cotton 
crop is applicable to the most ordinary farming in the sandy 
soils on the southeastern seaboard. In this region bedding is 
considered essential, and thus, for the reasons stated, there 
])re\ails the laborious system of plowing many furrows with 
small plows, instead of completing the operation wath 
fewer and dee])er plow-ings. 

In many sections of the country, it has been found that 
except in low-lying fields, where drainage is to be con- 
sidered, bedding is not necessary, and cotton is planted in 
drills on the level ground, in the same way as wdieat. This 
method simplifies man}' of the ()])erations, and conduces to 
the use of improved implements. 

In this case, the largest plows (like Fig. 49), may be 
used for breaking up ground, and if clods result from such 
plowing, the harrow may be used to pulverize them, with- 
out fear of spoiling the shape of any beds. 

The most advanced cotton farmers now use two-horse 




Q 



X3 



o 



o 
I— ( 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. l6l 

sulky plows for many purposes. For cultivating between 
the rows, to keep clown weeds and grasses, se\-eral kinds of 
improved implements are in use. 

Figure 50 is a gang plow, known as a walking 
cultivator. A l)etter implement known as a riding culti- 
vator is shown in Fig. 51. Both of these implements have 
a tendency to plow too deep for cotton, unless intelligently 
managed. Fig. 52 shows a disc cultivator that very nearly 
approaches in action the old fashioned sweep. It wull 
shear off the weeds and grass without danger of injury to 
the shallow cotton roots. The discs are arranged to be set 
at any desired angle. They m.ay also be used as a harrow-, 
i'hey may be removed and any other kind of plows put in 
their place. All of these implements are arranged to strad- 
dle the cotton row^s. 

Figure 53 is a stalk cutter. It is very valuable for cut- 
ting up the cotton stalks so they may be plow-ed under. 
Formerly the stalks were pulled up by the roots and burned, 
thereby wasting much vegetable matter which should have 
been returned to the soil. The whole stalks could not be 
plowed under without making serious obstruction to aft^r- 
cultivaticn. But if stalks are cut up fine, they may be 
plowed under to great advantage. The cotton stalks 
grown on one average acre weigh over half a ton, and 
contain about 15 pounds of nitrogen. This is nearly as 
much nitrogen as is usually supplied to an acre of cotton 
land in a commercial fertilizer. 

Scientific study of agriculture has done much to improve 
the condition of farms and farmers. Intelligent attention 
to improved methods and implements is making the pro- 
duction of cotton one of the most attractive of pursuits. 

Picking or Harvesting. 

The picking or harvesting of cotton is generally com- 
menced in August in the Southwest, and in September in 
the Southeast. Generally the crop is picked over three 
times, at intervals of about one month; occasionallv the 



1 62 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

crop is picked over twice; but sometimes four tnues; .n 
exceptional cases hve tuuts. Alen. women and children 
engage in the picking. Pickers nsuc.lly carry a sack straj)- 
ped over their shoulders, into which the cotton is put as 
picked. The sacks are emptied at end of rows in sheets or 
in wagons. 

In the Southeastern States the cost of picking is from 
40 to 60 cents per iiiuulred pounds of seed cotton. in 
Texas the cost ranges from ()0 cents to $1 per hundred 
pounds. 

The c|uantity one person can jjick varies greatly with 
the person. Children as \oung as eight years can 
pick cotton. Those of an average of 12 vears can 
pick 20 to 30 pounds jjer da}-. Some adults can pick only 
75 pounds per day, v.hile others can ])ick as much as 300. 
-Most adult pickers can pick from 125 to 150 pounds. Of 
course, the quantity picked depends to a large extent upon 
the abundance oi open cotton at the time of picking. 

The actual work nt j/icking is very light. The liending 
of the back makes the work arduous. Reckoning one 
man power as the tqi:ivalent of one-eighth horse power, 
this amount is expended in harvesting al)out 150 pounds 
of seed cotton. TV.is is at the rate oi 1.200 poimds per 
horse power per da\ . It ma\- be estimated that the 
power as now expended in picking cotton by hand is not 
more than one-tenth as efhcient as the mechanical power 
which is now in use tor ginning". The great quantity of 
labor recpiired to pick the cro]) l)v the j^resent inefficient 
hand method, limits the (piantitv of cotton that can be 
produced per cai)it i. The cheajMiess of labor for cotton 
picking is also an important factor. It is related that 
experiments in cotton culture have been entirely success- 
ful in California, but that the high price of labor for pick- 
ing ($1.50 to $2.50 ]ier day) was prohibitive. 

Cotton picking it 75 cents per hundred is a cost of 
about 2| cents ])er pound of lint cotton. This is one-third 
of the average market ^■ah1e of the lint. 




'■J 

tr. 

o 
o 



d 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVP:STING. 1 65 

In Texas the cost of picking is sometimes one-half the 
value of the lint cotton. These proportionate costs of 
picking, viz: One-third in the Southeast, and one-half ni 
the Southwest, represent about the Hmit that could be 
profitably paid in the respective sections. The difference 
in limits is made by the natural fertility of the soil in the 
Southwest, whereas it is necessary on the soils of the 
Southeast to apply large quantities of fertilizers. 

Referring to the cost of labor in California, ($2.50 per 
day), it is readily seen that the picking alone would cost 
7^ cents per pound of lint cotton. 

If a machine could be devised, by which the power of a 
man could be applied with reasonable eiTficiency, he could 
pick ten times as much as by the present inefficient hand 
method. Assuming the present wages, this would bring 
down the cost from ray 2-| cents a pound to ^ cent a pound. 
If such a machine could be adapted to mule or hor,e 
power, the cost could be still further reduced, even in con- 
nection with higher wages. Such a machine would ma- 
terially increase the cotton producing area, which is now 
confined to sections w here there is an abundance of cheap 
labor. The problem is a difficult one. Several machines 
have been built, but sc far, none have been even approxi- 
mately successful. Several cotton picker schemes have 
also been made a basis for selling the stock of companies 
in cities distant from the cotton growing section, when it 
was well known by the speculative promoters that tlie 
machine had no merit. 

The difTficulties in the way of the invention of a success- 
ful cotton picker do not appear greater than those that 
were in the way of ir-venting a reaper and binder, or of a 
sewing machine. The chief difificulty which seems to 
stand in the way of a successful machine is that it must 
pick the cotton which is open, without injuring the plant, 
or any of the unopened bolls. 

The production of a successful cotton picking machine 
would seem to be the most attractive legitimate field now 
open for inventive talent. 



l66 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTINCr. 

TABLE III. 

SHOWING ESTIMATED VALUE OF A SUCCESS- 
FUL COTTON PICKING MACHINE. 

Average value of a lo million bale crop. . . . $300,000,000 

Average cost of hand picking at 66 -?-3 cents 

per 100 pounds per bale 10 

Whole cost of hand picking 10 million bales. . 100,000,000 

A machine increasing efficiency tenfold 
would reduce cost of picking 10 million 
bales to 10,000.000 

Saving by cotton picking machine, 10 mil- 
lion bales (or $9 per bale) 90.000.000 

Allow for cost of maintenance of machine 

and mule at $1 per bale; 10 million bales. . 10,000,000 

Estimated net saving ($8 per bale) 80,000.000 

Insect Enemies — The Caterpillar. 

The first pest which became familiar to cotton growers 
of the United States was the caterpillar or cotton worm 
(Aletia argillacea). It is a slender bluish worm with small 
black spots, and sometimes with black stripes down its 
back. Its average length is one and one-half inch. 
It is the larva of an clive gray moth measuring one to one 
and a half inches from tip to tip of wmg. This moth hil)er- 
nates in the Southern States in rank wire-grass or other 
sheltering plants. It comes out in the early spring and 
lives on whatever blossoms it ma\' lind. Only a small 
per cent, of the moths live throug-h the winter. As soon 
as cotton plants are one to two inches high they lay eggs 
on the under side of the leaf, during the night. One moth 
will lay about 500 eggs. If the weather is warm the eggs 
will hatch in three lo four days, or if cold, they require 
sometimes more th?.n a week, and sometimes many of tlie 
first crop fail altogether. The larva or worm state is 










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PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. IJI 

from one to three weeks, during which period its capacny 
for destroying cotton leaves is something incredible. At 
the end of this stage, it spins a web around itseif witi.in a 
folded leaf, and remains as chrysalis for from lo to 30 days, 
when it appears as a moth. It begms to lay eggs when 
from two to four days old, so that the period of reproduc- 
tion from the birth of one moth tiirough the successive 
stages to the next moth is about 50 to 60 days. 

The most im[)roved method of combating the cater- 
pillar is to poison them with Paris green. The best way tt) 
apply it is to put it into bags of coarse cotton cloth, about 
four inches diameter, ten inches long. One of these bags 
is attached so it will lie horizontally, to each end of a poie 
about five feet long. A man carries this .crossw'ise on the 
back of a mule, and rides down a cotton row, gently and 
regularly jarring the pole, dusting out the poison on twt) 
adjacent rows at a time. He can poison 15 to 20 acres per 
day. It is evident that any remedy of whatever nature 
should be applied during the first generations of the cat- 
erpillar, while the weather is least favorable for their prop- 
agation, and before their multiplication. A caterpillar of 
the first generation produces a motli which lays 500 eggs, 
whose descendents la) 500 eggs each, so that the fifth 
generation would, without mishap, number over 60 billion 
descendants from one caterpillar of the first generation. 

The BoIl=Worm. 

Systematic efforts at poisoning, together with the othe,- 
causes, alluded to, have practically exterminated the cot- 
ton caterpillar from '.he United States, but another pesc 
has grown up which, though not yet very formidable, may 
in the absence of remedial measures, become (|uite 
troublesome. This is the boll-worm (Heliothis armiger) 
It is in appearance much the same as the leaf caterpillar, 
but is subject to much variation in color. It is the larva 
of a moth, similar in general appearance to the moth of the 
leaf caterpillar, but with a heavier body, and is also subject 



172 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

to considerable variation in color and markinos. Eg 



fea 



'ii> 



hatch in from two to seven days. It the eggs are laid on 
the cotton plant, ihe larva travels over the plant, feeding 
on leaves until it finds a boll or bud, into either of which 
it will bore. After a time, it will leave the bud or boll in 
search of another. 

The fact that the boll-w^orm, unlike the caterpillar, pre- 
fers other plants ior food, if they are available, renders 
effective a series of "trap crops." This consists in plant- 
ing in the cotton field a few rows of corn to mature at 
different times, and in cutting and destroying this corn at 
such periods as will catch the successive generations of 
worms. 

riexlcan BolUWeevil. 

The only other pest that seems at the present to be of 
any importance to the cotton plant, i.-. the Mexican cotton 
boll weevil (Anthronomus grandis). It is a small grayish 
beetle about one-quarter inch long. This beetle corres- 
ponds, in the cycle of propagation, to the moths, previous- 
ly described. Its larvae, like those of the moths, are 
the real enemy, but it is generally alluded to as the 
weevil (and not the worm) because it is most in evidence 
in the weevil stage, the larvae being mostly hidden in buds 
and bolls. 

The weevil hibernates in rubbish on the surface of the 
ground. On the first warm days of spring they fiy in 
search of volunteer cotton plants or occasional green, 
sprigs, that in wet seasons come out on the old cotton 
stalks left standing from last crop. They feed on the 
green leaves, and when the buds appear, lay eggs in them. 
Thus, the first generation or two thrive until planted cot- 
ton appears, which is at once attacked. As soon as the 
egg is laid in a bud, and the larva develops, the bud drops 
on the ground, where the larva finally transforms to chrys- 
alis, and produces another w-eevil. The total period frcnn 
weevil to weevil is about 30 days. 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 175 

The weevil seems to have been first noticed in 1862 near 
Monclova, Mexico, aucl became so numerous there, where 
cotton was being planted, that the entire venture had to 
be abandoned. It has appeared in greater or less num- 
bers wherever cotton has been planted in Mexico. 
Lately, it has found its way into Texas, where it has done 
considera])]e damage. It is believed that it cannot thrive 
in a more northern latitude. 

As the larvae do their destructive work entirely within 
bolls and Imds, it is unpossible to poison them by any of 
the usual means, so that the only hope of combating tnc 
evil is : 

(i) To so arrange the conditions of culture that it be- 
comes dil^cult for tlu-m to hibernate. 

(2) To destroy the very earliest weevils as they emerg: 
from winter quarters before they deposit eggs. 

The first method is considered the proper one, 
and the second only as supplementary to the first. The 
first, or cultural method, consists in so cleaning up the 
old fields after gathering the crop, that there shall be no 
rubbish in the vicinity in which the weevils may find a 
place to hibernate. Old stalks sliould be thoroughly 
pulled up by the roots, or if this is impracticable, the 
stalks should be plowed up. and m either case, piled 
and burned. This is to be followed by deep plowing 
throughout the field, in order to turn under and destroy 
any stray w^eevils, and at the same time to upturn anv 
chrysalides which n.ay attempt to hibernate in the 
ground. This method at the same time destroys the in- 
sects, and puts the rields in a condition unfavorable to 
volunteer cotton. 

The second method is to poison all volunteer cotton, 
so that the weevil is killed at its first feeding. This may 
be supplemented by protecting certain small patches of 
cotton through the winter, and watering it so that it will 
throw out early green leaves. These leaves are poisoned 
and all volunteer cotton kept killed down. Poison for 
this purpose is best applied in a liquid state with a small 
spraying pump. 



l-jb PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

Cut Worm. 

At present, the leist important pest to the cotton plane 
is the cut worm (Feltia annexa, and others). 

Conditions might exist, in which this worm might be 
important. It is the same worm which attacks cabbages 
and other vegetables, and the damage done is of the same 
character, viz: cutting off at night the young plant, at the 
surface of the ground. Heretofore, it has not been found 
necessary to take any measures against this worm in the 
cotton fields, but it is recommended if found necessary, 
that the same methods be employed as in garden culture, 
namely: the trap system, in which a crop of some early 
grass is planted and sprayed broadcast with some strong 
poison, then cut and thrown in bunches throughout the 
fields before the young plants appear. 

Classification and Spinning Qualities of Cotton. 

Most of the elements governing the production of 
waste in a cotton mill originate with the cotton planter, 
and increase as they pass on through the hands of the gin- 
ner and the buyers. The planter often puts in any kind 
of seed that he happens to ha\'e, and plants early or late, 
as it suits his convenience. He knows his price is regu- 
lated in Liver])ool by the average of the American crop, 
and does not largely depend upon the individual 
merit of the cotton, so long as it pusses the conventional 
grading of the local cotton buyer. The same reason that 
retards individual development of improved cotton grow- 
ing, influences the planter, making him indifferent about 
the ginning and the subsequent handling. 

But the conditions of the cotton market are changing. 
Liverpool is no longer the sole arbiter. Local mills arc 
consuming so large a proportion of the local cotton, that 
the price and the coLditions of sale are being largely ef- 
fected by them. This gives a magnificent opportunity for 
mills in cotton growing territory to make liner discrimi- 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 1 77 

nation in the charactei of the cotton they consume, and 
make the price of each individual lot of cotton commen- 
surate with the ultimate spinning quality, rather than 
with the "grades." 

In the absence of any good system of testing character 
and strength of individual cotton fibres, the mill must re- 
ly upon practical spinning tests. These soon show, if 
carefully observed, that the cotton grown by a careful 
planter gives better results in the matter of waste, and of 
breaking strength and general appearance of yarn. If a 
higher price is paid tor such cotton, and a lower price paid 
for others, there will arise an emulation among the plani- 
crs that will most certainly improve the quality of cotton 
and of mill products. 

There are many facts aljout cotton that are now well 
known, but which l:ave been disregarded on account of 
the market conditions. But these may now reach great 
prominence if properly stimulated by the mill men. For 
txample, cotton that is planted late, has not time to ma- 
ture the fibres, and attain uniformity of strength and 
smoothness and length. Even when it is planted in time 
the "top crop" is sometimes stunted by early frosts, and 
the same bad result is produced. Uniformity in length of 
staple is of prime importance, even more than length in 
the abstract. A mill with its machinery adjusted for f 
inch staple has better results on fibres uniformly x^ inches 
long than wnth some i | inches long. 

Uniformity in length, as well as in other characteristics, 
is most conserved by uniformity in the variety and ma- 
turity of the seed sown, though also influenced by uni- 
formity of soil and culture and fertilization. Careful sort- 
ing of the grades, according to maturity and general ap- 
pearance, while the cotton is being harvested, is of the up- 
most importance. And finally, the cotton thus carefully 
grown and assorted should be as carefully ginned. The 
average public ginnery is equipped for quantity of out- 
turn, rather than quality. This is the logical outgrowtli 



178 PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. 

of the system of grading and pricing American cotton in 
Liverpool, based on the average crop and conditions. 
The new conditions, by reason of which the local mills 
have a voice in the price and grading of cotton, should 
bring about a reform in the matter of g'inning, on the 
same lines as the reform in raising cotton. Each public 
ginnery should be equipped with at least one roller gin 
for handling long- staple and other hue grades of cot- 
ton. These gins turn out very much less product per day 
than the standard s:iw gins, and therefore the ginner i.-. 
entitled to a higher price for the service. Where ordi- 
nary saw ginning of ordinary cotton is worth $1 per bale, 
it might be easily worth $4 to $5 per bale, to the owner of 
fine grades of cotton, to have it ginned slowly, on a ma- 
chine that would in nc way injure the ([uality. This is, of 
course, based on the assumption that neighboring cotton 
mills would learn to appreciate the advantages of handling 
cotton which has been carefully selected, and carefully 
treated, at every step. This condition of reform must be 
brought about by the mutual reactions between the 
planter, the ginner and the cotton spinner. Even in the 
event that any given cotton mill is not in a position to 
itself spin these liner grades, it might pay to buy it, never- 
theless, and resell tc some other mill in order to 
encourage the planter to ])roduce better cotton. 
On the other hand, even if the ]jlanter does not 
receive as high a price as he thinks right for liis 
finer cotton, he should encourage the mills to make dis- 
tinctions, for the sake of finally reaching the point whc^e 
he can afford to grow the finest grades and demand the 
highest prices. 

The seed for ])lanting should l)e carefully selected from 
the plants which ]:)ro(luce the best lint. They should not 
l)e taken from the first pickings, so early as to make lia- 
bility to heat, nor from the last picking, where both fibre 
and seed are stunted by frost or chilly weather. Seed se- 
lected at the proper season will produce cotton that will 




H 



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ON 

d 



PLANTING, CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING. l8l 

spin better, and make less loss, than that grown from seed 
taken at random. 

When cotton is planted late, the crop gins badly. The 
fibre is easily pulled by the gin saws from the seed and is 
brittle, and hence such lint is full of broken fibres. Such 
cotton makes a large loss in the picker roim, and the ends 
break down badly in the spinning room. 



CHAPTER \ail. 

nDar[^ctiiu3 Cotton. 

When cotton was produced on plantations by means of 
slave labor, preceding i860, it was sold in two ways. 
Those planting on a small scale loaded the cotton in 
wagons, carried it to the market town, distances of two to 
fifty miles from the plantation. The market season wns 
in the autumn or winter. In this season, .the roads were 
generally bad; but happily there was at this same season 
not much other occupation for teams and teamsters, there- 
fore, the time necessary to make these long trips was nin 
a matter of consequence. Arriving in the market town, 
buyers would approach a wagon, learn who the owner 
was, and enter into negotiations for its purchase. The 
beginning of the negotiation was to cut through the bag- 
ging covering the cotton, draw out a sample — a good 
handful, weighing prcbably a quarter of a pound. The 
trade might be concluded on the s^^reet, or the trade 
might be concluded in the buyer's of^ce or counting 
house. The sample became a perquisite of the buyer 
and was considered by the planter of no consequence. 
By keeping all these Sc:mples in a place provided for them, 
the buyer would sometimes accumulate several bales of 
cotton in a season. Generally the planter would nego- 
tiate with a number of buyers before closing a trade, and 
always sold to the highest bidder. This method of mar- 
keting the crop was very economical, and always brouglit 
the highest price. 

The larger planters followed another system. They 
would contract with a firm of commission merchants to 
buy their supplies and sell their cotton. Throughout the 
year, the planter would write to the commission mer- 
chant for such supplies as he might need — one or more 
barrels of sugar, molasses, coffee, rice or such other ar- 



MARKETIJNG COTTON. 183 

tides as he might need. The commission merchant would 
simply keep an open account against the planter for all 
these purchases. He would either arrange with the mer- 
chants from whom he purchased them, for credits, or pay 
with his own capital, or borrow from bankers. The plan- 
ter's account, based on the cotton he would ship, was con- 
sidered a good basis of credit. At the end of the season, 
the planter would send his cotton to the commission mer- 
chant, who would sell it, and place the proceeds to the 
credit of the planter. Some planters w-ould keep good 
balances with the commission man, and also good bal- 
ances in the bank; but many of them, after paying the 
yearly accounts, would spend the balances, and raise a 
crop the next year on their credit with the commission 
man. The commission men were, in many cases, men of 
ample means, but in other cases they were men of scant 
means, and traded or the credit of the planters they rep- 
resented. That class of planters who dealt through com- 
mission merchants made money easily and spent it freely. 
They often made trips to New^ York, and sometimes to 
Europe, and would make drafts on the commission man 
with a free hand. It w-as not infreciuent for the commis- 
sion man to fail, because of too much confidence in the 
liberal planter's capacity to pay. 

During the Civil War the cotton markets were prac- 
tically closed. Very little cotton was produced. Some 
little of this was exported in vessels that "ran the block- 
ade." On many plantations, smal' lots of cotton w^ere 
stored, and some was suppHed to the Confederate govern- 
ment. When the w^ar ended, those who happened to have 
a little cotton on hand, found the cash proceeds an im- 
mense help in getting; a new^ start in putting in new- crops. 
The victorious Federal Government confiscated much of 
the cotton that w-as found immediately after the war. To 
avoid this, the cotton that w^as held wdien the war ended, 
was hauled out into the forests, and hid until an opportu- 
nity could be found to sell it. Thus exposed to the 



184 MARKETING COTTON. 

weather, it was in many cases much damaged before sold; 
but cotton was high in price, and ic would readily sell :ii 
spite of the damage. 

After the abolition of slavery and the end of the war, 
many cf the old commission firms were reorganized, and 
many new ones were formed. Cotton was high, and was 
again an attractive, but precarious basis of credit. Plant- 
ers devised systems of working negroes for shares of the 
crop they made. The freedmen had, of course, no money 
for his living; the commission man, in turn, advanced thesj 
supplies to the planter, under a contract to have a fixed 
number of bales of cotton s'hipped to be sold by the com- 
mission man at $1.50 a bale commission, besides interest 
at 10 to 30 per cent, on the money value of the supplies 
delivered. Thus, for the supplies advanced, the commis- 
sion man received three different compensations: (i) 
The commission on the cotton to be sold; (2) 10 to 30 
per cent, interest; (3) a profit on the supplies shipped, 
which ranged from 10 to 40 per cent., besides making a 
charge for insurance, storage and other expenses. 

The commission man, in turn, borrowed money from 
the banks or Northern merchants, with which to do th's 
business. Some of these commission men, or factors, 
who were careful and exacting, became wealthy, but many 
of them failed. The risks were very great, because of the 
disturbed and disorderly political conditions. Many ne- 
groes would start to grow a crop, and never finish it. The 
advances made to these would be a total loss. In this way 
many planters would be unable to pay their debts, and the 
commission man or factor, would, in turn, lose what he 
had advanced to the planter. 

A lien law was passed, by which a planter or merchant 
at the beginning of a season, could take a mortgage on a 
crop not yet made, in order to secure advances. Even 
with liens in force, the tenant or renter would often smug- 
gle one or more bales of cotton to market, and get away 
with the proceeds. This system of liens, advances and 



MARKETING COTTON. 185 

sales through commission men has been gradually dimin- 
ishing. Merchants failed, planters failed and tenants gut 
such poor results that the whole system grew unpopular 
and unsatisfactory. Large plantations began to be cut up 
into farms and sold, and this process is now going on. 

Railways have been extensively built, and now most 
farms are within a reasonable distance of a raihvay station 
where there is a market. There is accumulated capital 
now\ and the local merchant can extend reasonable credit 
to the neig'hboring farmer, white or black, and these can 
sell their own cottcn and cotton seed for cash, and pav 
their bills to the merchant in cash. The large commission 
house or factor is now gone. The large plantation is 
practically passing. It survives now in its original state 
only among the bottc.m lands of the Mississippi River, Red 
River and Ouachita River, where the coarsest and most 
ignorant type of negroes seem to have gathered, and con- 
tinue to gather. In these fertile, but unhealthy bottoms, 
large plantations may yet be held together and profitably 
operated, for some time to come. 

Texas is being rapidly settled by thrifty white immi- 
grants on small farms. Some of these farmers come from 
the East and some from the Northwest, while many are 
Germans and Swedes, who come direct from Europ;^ 
The river bottom planters still do business with surviv- 
ing commission houses and factors in New Orleans. The 
Texas farmer usually sells his cotton for cash in the near- 
by market town. 

The modern farmer, white or black, usually carries his 
cotton to market, one or two bales at a time, in a one or 
two horse wagon. Sometimes he will carry about i.ooo 
pounds cotton seed ciid one bale of cotton in the same 
wagon. The seeds have now as ready sale for cash as 
cotton. 

Many farmers now ask for no credit or advances. Fol- 
lowed up on modern lines, the cotton farm is a profitable 
property, and many farmers are not only without need 



l86 MARKETING COTTON. 

for advances, but are making and accumulating mone\'. 
Twelve years ago, the prospects for the cotton farmer 
seemed gloomy; this is now entirely changed, and the 
thrifty farmer, near a manufacturing centre, has good 
credits, and makes good money. 

Those who still own large tracts of land, finding it un- 
profitable under the tenant or share systems of working, 
and observing that neighboring farmers doing their own 
work with some hired help are prosperous, are perfectly 
willing to cut up the large tracts into farms, and sell them 
to good farmers on long credits. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Zbc iplantatton Durino an^ after tbe 
Civil Mar. 

It has been shown on about what basis of protit the 
plantation could l)e operated with slave lal)or. 

Paralyzing Influence of the War. 

During the Ci\'il War, the cause of which was primarily 
the differences between the free States and slave States 
about the institution of slavery, there was practically no 
cotton raised, except for domestic use and the use of the 
Confederate government. The able bodied white people 
went to the war, and the energies of the negroes were ap- 
plied to the production of food stuffs, clothing and other 
supplies for the armies. All export and import trade be- 
tween the cotton growing States and the rest of the world 
was stopped by means of blockade by the navy of the free 
States. While the war was begun for the preservation of 
the union of States, it soon transpired that as strong a 
motive, if not stronger, among the free States, was th.e 
abolition of slavery. The conflict became one of gigantic 
proportions, the enlisted forces on the one side aggregat- 
ing about 2,600,000. i-nd those of th;--, other about 600,000. 
Having given practically all its attention to the develop- 
ment of agriculture, in the period immediately preceding 
the war, the Southern States, when shut off from com- 
merce by blockade, found themselves not only without 
many manufactured articles, but also without many of 
what are usually considered the necessities of life. There 
was no adequate supply of sugar, no coffee, no adequate 
supply of salt, no tea no materials for ladies' dresses, ex- 
cept homespuns. In slavery times, meat was cured by 
packing it in salt a few days, and then hanging it over- 
head in a smoke hoi se. In being smoked it would dry. 



ibS DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 

and the salt would fall off. During the war, many a 
plantation got its s:ilt supply by digging the earth out of 
the smoke house, purling it in a hopper, pouring through 
water to leach it out and then boiling out the water to 
get the residual salt. Parched corn, sassafras, sage, 
parched oats and o'.htr substitutes for tea and coffee were 
tried and much used. Home made molasses, in place ot 
sugar, became geneial, and homespun clothes for fine 
ladies, the fashion. In all privations, the negroes cheer- 
fully and loyally participated, and there was never a mur- 
mur of discontent. At home, on the plantation, the plan- 
ter always stood for the defence of his negroes. In war 
he assumed again to do all the fighting for himself and 
his. The negroes were never called upon to strike a sin- 
gle blow in the war on the Southern side, and their loyal- 
ty to the man who was doing the fighting was perfection 
itself. Subsequent events exhibited that this was a loyal- 
ty that was not innate in the negro character, but had been 
developed by the preceding conditions and events. 

As a result of the war, slavery was abolished, and the 
seceding Southern States returned into the Union. The 
Confederate States ceased to be, and the United States, 
now all free States, became again a single nation, made: 
up of all the States. 

Negro Suffrage. 

Besides bringing the seceding States back into the Un- 
ion and abolishing slavery, the victors in the conflict also 
determined to give the right of ballot to the freedmen. 
In a number of the States, these fieedmen were in the 
majority. Besides the great political problem thus cre- 
ated, it was necessary also to take up and formulate some- 
system of labor. The war had practically swept away all. 
property, in the slave States, except land, and that was 
much depreciated by the destruction of the labor system 
and the want of working capital. Cotton was high ir- 
price, because of scarcity — for four years none had been- 
supplied to the markets. 




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DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. IQI 

Carpet Bag Government. 

For ten years, even at high prices, no protit was made in 
growing cotton. For ten years the confusion — pohtir.al, 
commercial, agricultural and social — was worse than con- 
founded. Whole legislatures could be suborned for any 
corrupt purpose, and riots were frequent. 

The corrupt leader.s of the negroes organized them mto 
militia companies, and infamous secret political societies, 
known as the Union League. The v^hites organized rifle 
companies and the Ku-Klux-Klan, which was a secret 
organization for resisting the corrupt actions of carpet 
bag governments. 

In this period of ten years, and in spite of all this dis- 
order, the whites md blacks were producing cotton; the 
white man owning the land and the black man working it. 
The schemes of work and compensations were various. 
Sometimes the planter would rent bnd to a negro tenant 
for a fixed quantity ol lint cotton; sometimes for a propor- 
tionate part of the crop; and sometimes he would pay the 
hands agreed wages by the year. The longer the con- 
fused conditions lasted, the more unreliable the negro be- 
came as a laborer, although there were notable excep- 
tions. It was the rule for them to drift into the idea that 
freedom meant license, and the franchise an asset. 

New Basis of Compensations. 

It would be impossible to give even approximately the 
different experiments in the way of contracts made by the 
white land-owners with the freedmen. A few are defined 
as follows : 

( I ) The landlord would furnish land and mules, receiv- 
ing as rent and for use of mules, one-third the crop, the 
tenant furnishing his own living. Even in this case, the 
landlord would have to "advance" the supplies for a liv- 
ing, or guarantee the account with some merchant fnr 
these supplies. 



I 



192 DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 

(2) The landlord would furnish the tenant with land, 
mule and an agreed quantity of supplies, and they would di- 
vide the crop equal';. . 

(3) The land-owner would contract with the laborer iur 
a year, paying about $50 to $100 per year, and furnishin-- 
supplies as agreed. 

(4) The land-owner would rent land to a tenant for a 
fixed quantity of cotton. A farm of 30 acres would rent 
for about three bales of cotton, or about one bale for ten 
acres. These rent brles would be worth $30 to $40 each, 
equivalent to about $3 per acre for land. Although this 
would represent a good income on land worth $5 
to $10 per acre, land was difficult to sell at these prices, 
because of the precariousnc^^ oi collection. The negro 
tenants were generally unreliable. 

/\fter 1876. polit.cal conditions were very much im- 
proved. The negroes had also acquired some education 
and some knowledge of what freedom really meant. 
Those who had fori trly been planters had acquired by 
experience some knowledge of the freedman, who, by the 
way, proved to be a totally different person from the 
slave, even though tlie same individual. 

Industrial Renaissance. 

With the restoration of political order, and the estab- 
lishment of a better understanding between blacks and 
whites, the retrogressive movement of the last decade 
changed, and things began to look much better. 

Cotton seed oil mills caught the attention of those who 
were progressive. These prospered with negro labor. 
On the farms, negroes still ol)jected to working und^r 
overseers. In the oil mills, they made no objection to 
superintendents and foremen. 

Cotton mills also began to be built, and these employed 
white labor exclusively. This gave profitable employ- 
ment to a class who weie in urgent need of it. These 
manufactures grew in an increasing ratio, and others were 



DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 1 93 

forninlated and estal;lishe(l. Farmers found that the nev\- 
factory populations made good markets for the perish- 
able products of the farm, which before had been worth 
less. Gradually as these mterests grew, all labor, whiLe 
and black, became more reliable and more efficient. By 
the year 1900, there has developed in the Southeast, or 
Piedmont region, occupation at moderate con^pensatioii 
for practically all who are willing to work. To show 'ih.e 
difference in income for an average county in 1880 and 
1900, following figures are exhibited: 

xA.ssuming 10,000 bales of cotton as the crop of an 
average county, and taking the current prices of to-day 
as applicable to both, in order to show the comparison at 
even date, 10,000 bales of cotton at 6 cents would yield 
$300,000.00. This would represent the income of the 
people of the country for their cotton crop, when 
sold as raw cotton. Now this, if manufactured 
into cloth is worth $1,000,000. Instead of shipping out 
cotton tO' England and getting back $300,000, the cotton 
goes to the factory in the county, is made into cloth by 
home people, is sent say, to China, which sends back 
$1,000,000.00, thus making a profit to the county of 
$700,000.00. This assumes, of course, that the laborers 
live in the county, that the fuel is obtained in the county, 
(wood or coal), or that the power comes from water. The 
small supplies ordered from outside amount to very little, 
and may be omitted. The difference of $700,000 is not 
of course, all profit to the mills. It goes to pay labor, 
thus furnishing profitable employment to those who were 
formerly compelled to idle much of their time; it pays 
for wood or fuel, that formerly rotted; from the labor it 
goes to the farmer for food stuffs and to purchases 
from merchants and others. The ultimate division of 
this increased income to the county, is exhibited in Table 
IV. 



194 DURING AND AFTER THE CIVII, WAR. 



TABLE IV. 

SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF PROFITS IN COT- 
TON MANUFACTURING: 

To farmers for beef, pork, meal, flour, chickens, 
eggs, milk, butter, vegetables, fruits and other 

perishable farm products $250,000 

To farmers for wood, labor, drayage and other 

service 50,000 

To merchants for dry goods 100,000 

To merchants for groceries 100,000 

To stockholders for dividends 100,000 

To lawyers, doctors, preachers, etc 50,000 

To taxes, good roads, schools and churches . . . 50,000 

Total $700,000 

Besides living mucli better, all these beneficiaries save 
something, and at the end of the year, the country is 
richer instead of poorer. 

This is by no means the limit of profit that can be 
brought out of cotton by manufacture. The above is 
simply the result of converting cotton into plain w^hite and 
simple colored goods, all comparatively coarse. By 
special textile education and training, better and higher 
priced goods may be made. As the quality becomes im- 
proved, the money l^rought back from the markets of the 
world would materially increase. 

Take the crop of North Carolina for one year, as an ex- 
ample, and it may be made into goods the market value of 
which are exhibited in Table V*. 

♦From " Cotton Values in Textile Fabrics." 



DURING AJND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. I95 



TABLE V 

SHOWING THE VALUE OF A NORTH CARO- 
LINA COTTON CROP OF 500,000 BALES. 

As cotton at 6 cents 

per poand. If manufactured. 

$15,000,000 Duck at 14c per lb $ 35,000,000 

15,000,000 Drilling at i6c 40,000,000 

15,000,000 Sheeting at i8c 45,000,000 

15,000.000 Bleaching at 20c 50,000,000 

15.000,000 Tick at 24c 60,000,000 

15,000,000 Cheviot at 26c 65,000,000 

15,000,000 Denim at 30c 75,000,000 

15,000,000 plain Gingham at 34c 85,000,000 

15,000,000 Window shade cloth at 34c.. 85,000,000 

15,000,000 Madras at 40c 100,000,000 

15,000,000 Long Cloth at 70c 175,000,000 

15,000,000 Mercerized cloth at $1 250,000,000 

15,000,000 Fancy gingham at $1.60 .... 400,000,000 

15,000,000 Poplin at $1.80 450,000,000 

15,000,000 Emb. ginghams at $2.20 550,000,000 

15,000,000 Fancy ginghams at $2.80 .... 700,000,000 

15,000,000 Persian lawn at $4.00 1,000,000,000 

15.000,000 Embroidery at v$20 5,000,000,000 

Cotton Seed Oil Mills. 

In a similar way, the cotton seed oil mills take cotton 
seed, which were formerly worthless, and turn them into 
products having good values. In the cotton growing 
States, the values gotten out of cotton seed 20 years ago. 
were all together not over $5,000,000. At the present 
time the ultimate values reclaimed from cotton seed pro- 
ducts w\\\ reach nearly or quite $100,000,000. Numerous 
other industries have developed, and these, all taken to- 
gether, support a large population, who receive good 



196 DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 

wages, and in turn, buy the perishable farm products. 
Thus, with these heips, a farmer can make cotton and 
sell it for 6 cents a pound at a profit, where formerly, 
without these supplemental markets, he would have lost 
money. 

In addition to these influences, that are advantageous 
to the cotton farmer, the cotton States have been wise 
and liberal in all legislation about ag;ricultural experiment 
stations, boards of fertilizer control, agricultural colleges, 
and other measures that contribute to the farmers' knowl- 
edge of the science and art of cotton production. While 
the price of cotton lias been constantly decreasing, and 
the quantities increasing, all the above influences have 
been tending to keep its production on a profitable basis. 

Those farmers who are near the new manufacturing 
centres, can now produce cotton as cheaply and profitab- 
ly as the ante-bellum planter could with slave labor. He 
can sell enough farm products, other than cotton, to cover 
all cost, and have the cotton as a cltar profit. This natu- 
rally makes land more valuable; and it is notable that land 
in the vicinity of all new factories increase in price, with 
great rapidity, to twice and thrice their former values. 

Because of slavery before the Civil War, and because 
of the disorders thereafter, the cotton growing States have 
not attracted much immigration from the class that 
wanted to farm. The adverse conditions seem now to- 
tally gone. In the conditions, now existing in the cot- 
ton growing States, that land which is near a factory pop- 
ulation, offers greater attractions to working farmers 
than the farm lands of any other part of the United States. 
The old condition of l^eing able to make a cotton crop as 
a clear profit has returned, and the opportunity is well 
wathin the reach of a man of very limited means. 

Advent of the Small Farm. 

The negro has become again a good and tractable 
workman, provided be works along with a white man, 



DURING AND AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 1 97 

and he is now aN-aikiLle as a helper to a good farmer. 
Land is rapidly increasing in value, and the future is at- 
tractive, even if the crop of cotton is large and the price 
cheap. The profits in cotton planting in this new con- 
dition, are not to be made by planters or landlords who 
own large tracts of land; but are only available to the 
thrifty working farmer. By handling a cotton farm on 
the same plan as the wheat and corn producers of the 
Northwest, and with negro labor, still cheap, and now be- 
come very reliable, (wh.en one or two negroes work along 
with the white man), cotton may be produced with greater 
economy, and probably with more profit, than ever be- 
fore in its history. 

These favorable conditions for the small farmer ha\ e 
led to the sub-division and sale of many plantations, and 
this tendency is continuing, thus promoting a multiplicity 
of small farms. 



I 



Part 11. 



COTTON OIL. 



^^ 




Copyrighted 1901 by 1>. A. TOMPKINS. 

THE COTTON PLANT AS IT APPEARS IN SEPTEMBER 
BEFORE FIRST PICKING. 



CHAPTER X. 

Cotton Sect). 

The American cotton plant grows to variable heights. 
On uplands, and where full grown, it is sometimes not 
more than 15 to 20 inches high. Generally, on uplands, 
it is 24 to 48 inches high. On the black prairie lands of 
Texas, it grows from three to six feet high, and in the 
rich alluvial Mississippi bottoms, its full heig-ht is five to 
eight, and sometimes even ten feet. 

In Southern Texas and Florida cotton begins to open 
in the early part of August. In much the greater part of 
the cotton belt, pickmg generally begins about September 
1st. 

One of the colored plates shows a cotton plant as it anpears 
in September. It is in full vigor of growth, and the bolls are 
just beginning to open. The leaves are deep green. The 
blooms are a light yellow^ when they first come out, and 
l>ecome light pink under the influence of the sun. The 
plant continues to bloom and fruit throughout the au- 
tumn, until very chilly nights or frosts check further de- 
velopment. 

Another plate shows the plant about November ist, when 
the chilly nights give to the leaves the color of autumn fo- 
liage. 

At a later period, during December, the leaves have 
become withered and have fallen to the ground, leaving 
the last of the open bolls with cotton hanging from them 
ready for the last picking, as show^n by another plate. The 
immature bo^lls, caught and killed by the frost remain on the 
stalks or fall to the ground. 

Half a bale of cotton to the acre is ordinarily good pro- 
duction. The average of the whole cotton-growins" area 
is about one bale to three acres. Reckoned at half bale 
to the acre, the production of seed to the acre would be 



202 



COTTON SEED. 



about 500 pounds, or about 16 bushels. The seed from 
upland cotton weigh 30 to 33 1-3 pounds per bushel, ac- 
cording to the manner in which the measure is packed 
or heaped. The legislatures of different States fix the 
weight of the legal bushel at different figures, 
varying from 30 to 33 1-3 pounds. Buyers of 
cotton seed frequently ignore the legal bushel, and buy in 
a way to give them some advantage, as, for example, in 
paying for them by the (heavy weight) bushel, and sell- 
ing- them bv the ton. 




Fig. 61. Cotton Seed, Showing How Lint Grows. 

The total cotton crop of the United States is about ten 
million bales. For every pound of cotton produced, there 
is an average of two pounds of seed. Therefore the seed 
from which the cotton for a 500 pound bale is taken, 
weigh about 1,000 pounds. The seed from the entire crop 
would be about five million tons. This is half a ton of 
seed per bale of cotton. 

American cotton seed are of two kinds, viz: upland, and 
Sea Island, or black seed. Lint cotton has the appear- 
ance of growing out of the seed as the human hair grows 




Copyrighted 1901 ty D. A. TOMPKINS. 

THE COTTON PLANT AS IT APPEARS IN OCTOBER 
AND NOVEMBER. 




I I I I I I 1 I 



Fig. 62. 
Cross Section of Cotton Seed Magnified 12^ Times. 



204 COTTON SEED. 

out of the head, or as wool out of a sheep's back. See 
Fig. 6i. 

The hnt of upland cotton holds very tenaciously to the 
seed. In ginning it, the fibres break near the point of at- 
tachment to seed. This ginning requires a saw gin. The 
seed from the gin have a fuzzy appearance, and are slightly 
greenish in color. 

The lint from Sea Island cotton comes entirely loose 
from the seed very easily, thus leaving seed smooth and 
black. These seed are called "Sea Island," or "black 
seed," or "baldheaded seed." 

Figure 55 shows the empty boll with the seed cotton which 
comes out of it. (Cotton is in the picker's hand.) 

Figure 61 shows the cotton seed, natural size, with all cot- 
ton removed from the front half, and the cotton fibres more 
or less straightened out on the middle plane. This figure 
shows a staple about one inch long. This is a fair average 
of good upland cotton. Upland cotton grows in all lengths 
from I inch to i| inches. Mississsippi "Bender" cotton has 
a fibre i| to if. "Sea islands"grow i-J to 2^ inches, if to 
2 inches being the usual lengths for this varietv. 

Figure 62 is the cross section of a cotton seed magnified 
12I diameters. The black spots are oil cells. They seem 
very scattering, but it must be remembered that those shown 
are only the ones in the section through which the seed is cut. 

The centre is a sort of stem, and in germinating the con- 
voluted matter unfolds to make the beginning of the plant. 

Nearly all the seed worked in oil mills are upland seed. 
A ton of these, as they leave the ginnery, and go to the 
oil mill, are physically composed about as follows after be- 
ing cleaned : 

Short lint 75- 'bs 

Hull 925 lbs 

Oil (52 gals) 390 lbs 

Meal 610 lbs 

2,000 lbs 




Copyrighted 1901 bv D. A. TOMPKINS. 

THE COTTON PLANT AS IT APPEARS IN DECEMBER. 
NEARLY READY FOR FINAL PICKING. 



COTTON SEED. 205 

A good oil mill gets out of a ton of seed, products about 
as follows : 

Short lint 25 lbs 

Hull 1,000 lbs 

Oil (40 gals) 300 lbs 

Meal 675 lbs 



2,000 lbs 



The foregoing estimates do not take into ac- 
count sand and other foreign matter in seed. 
This is comparatively small. It varies, with the care in 
picking and ginning, from i to 5 per cent. 

It will be observed that the separations are considerably 
short of perfection. Only about 25 pounds out of 75 
pounds of the lint left on the seed can be profitably taken 
off. After this amount, the remainder is short and worth - 
jess, and is left to go with the hull. In the processes ot 
crushing and manipulation, some of the hull and lint gets 
into meal, thus increasing the weight of the meal. This 
weight is still furthe. increased by the oil which is left in 

it. 

All market towns in the cotton growing States have 
."seed agents," in the ginning season. The oil mill com- 
panies construct seed houses and put up wagon scales at 
the railway stations. Some companies have 50 to 75 of 
them. These are small and cheaply constructed ware- 
houses, capable of holding one to three or four carloads 
of seed. The mills send out representatives in August 
to arrange for agents to take charge of their seed houses 
and scales, and buy seed for them. These agents gener- 
allv get $1 per ton for compensation. At good seed 
points, there are sometimes several seed houses, and of 
course several agents. Some merchants own seed house?, 
and buy seed on their own account, and sell them to the 
oil mills afterwards. Ginners also sometimes act as seed 



2o6 COTTON SEED. 

agent for mills, and sometimes buy and sell seed on 
their own account. 

In the Piedmont region of the Southeastern States, and 
adjacent uplands, there will be marketed in a good town, 
from farm wagons, two to four thousand tons of seed in 
a season, in i exas, a good market town will sometimes 
(though rarely,) handle as much as ten thousand tons. 

The competition of the different local seed buyers is 
sometimes very keen, to the extent of much excitement 
It is not uncommon to see two or more young white men 
— runners for seed agents or buyers — mount the wagon of 
a negro or white farmer, as he comes from the country 
into the market town. These press upon the farmer of- 
fers for the seed. Sometimes the drummers, or runners, 
even get into persona^ encounters. The oil mill managers 
are themselves good fighters in the seed markets, and they 
not infrequently sacrifice business judgment to the pleas- 
ures of purchasing a larger quantity of seed than some 
rival manager. Considerable quantities of seed are taken 
on wagons by farmers or ginners direct to the oil mills, 
when these are near by. 

The seed bought in market towns, and there stored in 
seed houses, are shipped in bulk and in carload lots to 
the oil mills. They are brought to the warehouse by the 
farmers. These take cotton to the ginnery, pay for the 
ginning and baling, and then take the bale of cotton and 
the seed to market. 

In Texas, there is r growing tendency for the large gin- 
neries to buy the seed cotton, and when this is done, the 
ginner markets both seed and lint. 

Great care should always be taken to protect seed from 
exposure to rain, and even from moisture. Slight moisture 
will cause heating and decay. A very few seed slightly 
wet or damp, if put into a seed house, will very soon begin 
to heat. The heating will extend to other seed, and de- 
cay sets in rapidly with great heat. This heat sometimes 
becomes so great as to make fire by spontaneous com- 



COTTON SEED. 207 

bustion. Such a fire in the middle of a seed pile, does not 
break out, as an ordinary fire does, but simply smoulders. 
It is nevertheless disastrous in its effects on the seed. The 
oil from seed that have been heated, is not sweet or edible, 
but must be sold for soap making or other such uses. 
Seed, when found beginning to heat, are always given im- 
mediate attention by the good mill manager. They are at 
once fed to the mill. If there are more than the mill can 
take care of, they may be shoveled from one place to an- 
other to cool. This is, of course, expensive. The rule 
about an oil mill is that wet seed will not be purchased. 
When, however, a farmer is caught in a slight rain, with a 
load, the mill man will usually stram the point, buy the 
seed, and send them at once into the mill to be worked. 

It is a cjuestion whether water or fire does the greatest 
damage to seed. For this reason, it has never been de- 
termined whether tor fire protection a seed house ouglit 
to be equipped with automatic sprinklers or not. 

Some large mills work 30,000 to 50,000 tons of seed per 
year, and have storage for 10,000 to 15,000 tons. With 
such quantities in the warehouses at one time, the im- 
portance of having all stored seed perfectly sound and dry 
will be apparent. 

The seed from the early part of the season do not keep 
as well as those of the second and third pickings. The 
early seed have most sap. On this account early seed are 
much more liable to heat. For this reason, such of these 
early seed as are stored, are worked out of the warehouse 
early, and the space then filled with seed of later growth. 

The quantity of oil in cotton seed varies greatly. The 
quantities are different on different soils, and also differ- 
ent in different seasons. The quality of the oil also varies. 
Sometimes seed from a certain section will yield, in an 
average oil mill, 42 grdlons per ton, the oil having a sweet, 
palatable flavor. Ir. another season, the same soil moy 
produce a seed that will yield only 35 gallons per ton. and 
the quality of the oil may not be as good. 



2o8 COTTON SEED. 

It is no rule that large quantity and good flavor go to- 
gether, nor is it a rule that small yield makes oil of inferior 
quality. The quantity and flavor soem to depend on in- 
dependent influences. Experts differ in opinion on these 
points. Many good oil mill men claim that large yield 
and good oil are usually found together. Other good mill 
men claim that a wet season makes seed that giv€ larger 
yields, hut these seed, because of sap, are more liable to 
heat and therefore make inferior quality of oil. 



CHAPTER XL 

dotton See^ ®iL Ibtstor^ an^ Commercial 
features. 

From time immemorial, the praise of the oHve tree has 
been sung, both in sacred and profane hterature. For 
centuries before and after the Christian era, it was held, 
and is still held, in the highest esteem. This high estima- 
tion in which the olive tree is held, comes undoubtedly 
from the fact that in its fruit and oil, mankind has hereto- 
fore obtained more that is useful than from any other 
plant or tree. 

It was an olive branch that the dove brought back to 
Noah in the ark, to give courage and hope to survivors 
of the flood. The olive branch is well nigh an' universal 
emblem of peace among all peoples. 

In ancient times, and in many countries still, olive oil is 
the principal, and in many cases the only cooking grease. 
Our Anglo-Saxon habit of using animal fats in its stead, is 
the exception, and net the rule. In The Arabian Nights, 
the story goes, that forty thieves were concealed in jars 
that were supposed to contain oil. 

Throughout the same ages, the cotton plant has always 
existed ; but, remarkable as it may seem, its value was 
never fully understood, until within the past 25 years. 

The three prime necessities of the human race are: food, 
clothing and shelter. Towards these, the olive tree fur- 
nishes its fruit and oil for food, and in a very limited ex- 
tent its wood for construction. The cotton plant now 
supplies lint, from whicn clothing for the body, the bed 
and household (carpets) is made. It supplies oil for cooV:- 
ing purposes, and for many industrial uses, such as for 
lamps in mines, and to a limited extent for lubrication, for 
making soap, glycerine, candles, butter, lard, and for in- 
numerable other uses. 



2IO HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

The cotton seed meal is used for supplying ammonia 
and other constituents in commercial fertilizers, for cattle 
food in dairies, for fattening beef, sheep, and for various 
other purposes. Lately, however, it is being mostly 
used as a food for cattle and sheep. This is especially the 
case at dairy farms, and where cattle are being fatted for 
beef, and at saw mills, where oxen are used to haul logs. 

In truth, we are suddenly brought to a realization of the 
fact that the cotton plant gives us more than the olive tree 
ever gave to mankind. And, by perfecting machinery 
and methods for the production of useful products from 
cotton seed, values which have for centuries been un- 
known, have suddenly been brought to light. The men 
wdio have been most instrumental in the production of 
valuable products from cotton seed, have been doing a 
work not only for themselves, but for the country at large, 
and for all humanity 

The First Cotton Seed Oil Mills. 

The first mill was built at Natchez, Miss., in 1834. A 
Mr. Martin operated a cotton seed oil mill in New 
Orleans as far bacK as 1847. ^^^ few other mills were 
built prior to the Civil War. Immediately after the Civil 
war of 1860-65, several mills were built, some of wdnch 
succeeded, and some failed. 

In 1869 General E. P. Alexander built a cotton seed oil 
mill at Columbia, S. C. Following this, other mills were 
built in different parts of the cotton growing area. By 
1880, the business of crushing cotton seed had developed 
into a distinct and entirely legitimate business, but <"he 
process employed, and everything ])ertaining to the indus- 
try was held in great secrecy. 

The oil was founa to be about the same as olive oil, and 
the cake and meal Nva^ largely exported and used in Eng- 
land, and on the Continent, for stock food. What was pur- 
chased in America was principally used as a fertilizer. 
The oil was used principally as a substitute for, or an adul- 




CO 
00 



O 



o 
o 

m 



o 



CO 




HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 2I3 

terant of, olive oil, and readily sold in the crude state, at 
from 50 to 60 cents per gallon. 

Those mills that were managed with even a rough ap- 
proximation to ordmary care and business judgment made 
very large profits. As the business still developed and the 
price of oil became less, the pork packers discovered that 
it could be advantageously used with certain beef pro- 
ducts to make an excellent cooking fat, to take the place 
of hog lard. Since its adaptation to this use, large and in- 
creasing quantities have been consumed by concerns that 
slaughter cattle and dress beef for market. Since about 
1880, the consumption of cotton seed oil has been further 
increased by its use for packing sardines on the coast of 
Maine, for making butter in America, Holland and else- 
where, and for numerous other purposes. 

The Machinery Used. 

The principal machinery used in early cotton seed oil 
mills was brought from England. It no doubt comprised 
such heaters and presses as were used to crush oil from lin- 
seed, Egyptian cotton seed, and other oil seeds that were 
produced in or shipped to England. Egyptian cotton 
seed are black and lintless, very similar to seed from Sea 
Island cotton in this country. The process of working 
them was very simple They were first crushed under old 
fashioned mulling stones, then put in steam jacketed ket- 
tles with mechanical stirrers, and cooked. The product 
was dumped from the kettle or heater into a wooden bin, 
and from the bin it was put into a hydraulic press contain- 
ing about five boxes, and put under abovit two to three 
thousand pounds pressure to the square inch, on rams ten 
to twelve inches in diameter. 

Upland American seed are not entirely free from lint. 
On account of the quantity of oil this lint is capable of ab- 
sorbing, and also on account of the injury which the lint 
is to the cake as a food stufif, it was important to separate 
the hull from the meats. This was accomplished by the 



214 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

use of a huller, a machine to cut the seed to pieces, and 
screening out the meats from the hulls, in bolting chests, 
having the reel clothed with wire cloth. 

The earlier mills wer^ either built by foreign mechanics, 
or native Southern mechanics of ante-bellum type, botii 
of whom were dogntatic, opinionated and incompetent. 
It commonly required about two years for these to build 
a mill and get it into successful operation. 

The costs, profits, processes and all other informati'.n 
about an oil mill were kept carefully concealed by owners 
and millwrights or experts. 

From 1882 to 1884. the subject was first looked into 
from an engineering point of view. In 1884. there was 
erected the first cotton seed oil mill ever built from de- 
signs made by the mcdern type of educated and practical 
American engineer. 

Most of the seed worked in the United States are up- 
land seed. The average physical composition of a ton of 
these upland seed as received at the oil mill is about as fol- 
lows: 

Short lint 7° ^bs 

Hull 910 lbs 

Oil (51 gals) 382 lbs 

Meal.\ . ^ 600 lbs 

Sand and other foreign matter 38 lbs 



2,000 



These proportions vary with seasrns, soils, character 
of ginning and care or conscience of the farmer, ginner or 
seed agent. By bad ginning there may be 125 pounds of lint 
left on the seed, and by very good ginning, the seed may 
be cleared of lint to within 50 pounds. 

The best possible oil mill is one in which the separation 
of the above constituents is most nearly complete and put 
in marketable shape at the least expense per ton. 



2l6 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

Process. 

The process of manufacture in American oil mills un- 
derwent very little change until about 1880. From that 
time forward, great improvement has been made in ma- 
chinery, such as improved hullers, improved linters, steel 
plate boxes in presses (requiring no hair mats), chilled rolls 
in place of muller stones, etc, etc. 

The process now conducted in first-class mills is about 
as follows : 

1. The seed are cleaned of sand. 

2. Then cleaned of the other foreign substances, such 
as bolls, pieces of wooa, etc. 

3. They are then carried to the linters, and re-ginned 
for a part of the short lint. 

4. They are then carried to the huller, which cuts them 
to pieces. 

5. Then in a reel the meats are separated from the 
hulls. 

6. The hulls are then taken out, heretofore to the fire 
room for fuel, but latterly to be sold as cattle feed. 

7. The meats are taken to the rolls which crush them, 
breaking the oil cells. 

8. From the rolls, the meats go into heaters, in which 
they are cooked. 

9. From the heaters, meats are taken into the former, 
where cakes are formed and enclosed in cloth. 

10. The cakes are placed in the press and the oil ex- 
tracted by pressure. 

11. The cake remaining in the press is taken out. al- 
lowel to cool, and may then be cracked and ground into 
meal. 

The following tables will exhibit the variety of results 
from operating various kinds of oil mills, under different 
conditions. 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAU FEATURES. 21'] 

TABLE VI. 

SHOWING PRODUCTS AND VALUES OBTAINED 
FROM ONE TON OF SEED IN THE EARLY 
OIL MILLS: 

1,000 lbs hulls, used as fuel $ .30 

775 lbs meal (a 90c 6.98 

225 lbs 011=^30 gallons @ 60c 18.00 

2,000 lbs seed, giving product worth $25.28 

Cost of seed $10.00 

Cost of working 5.00 $15.00 

Profit $10.28 

A mill of this design capable of working 5,000 tons of 
seed per year, should therefore have made, and often did 
make, with good management, $50,000 per year. 

At the present day, meal remains at about the same 
price shown in the above table. Oil, however, has declin- 
ed fully half. By improved mills and machinery, the cost 
per ton of working seed has been much reduced, and the 
quantity of oil per ton has been increased. 

Many mills exist that can never be made first-class, ex- 
cept by entire reconstruction. Of the mills still being 
built, there is much variation in the quality of the design 
and workmanship on the machinery. 



2l8 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 



TABLE VII. 

SHOWING PRESENT PRODUCT AND VALUES 
OBTAINED FROM ONE TON OF SEED IN AN 
OLD OR BADLY CONSTRUCTED OIL MILL, IN 
A GOOD YEAR. 

Oil, 39 gals at 30 cents per gal $11.70 

Meal, 675 pounds at $1.00 per cwt 6.75 

Hull, 950 pounds at $'3. 00 per ton 1.42 

Lint, 25 pounds at 3? .75 

$20.62 

Cost of seed delivered at mill $14.00 

Cost of working, bags, barrels, etc 3-5C> 

Cost of fuel 1. 00 18.50 

Profit $2.12 

A mill under these circumstances, working 5,000 tons 
of seed per year, could therefore make a profit of more 
than $10,000. 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 219 

TABLE VIII. 

SHOWING PRESENT PRODUCTS AND VALUES 
OBTAINED FROM ONE TON OF SEED IN AN 
OLD OR BADLY CONSTRUCTED MILL, IN A 
BAD YEAR. 

Oil, 35 gals at 20c $7.00 

Meal, 675 pounds at 90c per cwt 6.08 

Hull, 950 pounds at $3.00 per ton 1.42 

Lint, 25 pounds at 3c 75 



$15.: 



D 



■Cost of seed delivered at mill $12.00 

Cost of working, bags, barrels, etc 3.50 

Cost of fuel, per ton i.oo 16.50 

Loss $i--5 

A mill under these circumstances, working 5,000 tons of 
vseed per year would lose over $5,000. 



220 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 



TABLE IX. 

SHOWING PRESENT PRODUCTS AND VALUES 
OBTAINED FROM ONE TON OF SEED IN 
WELL DESIGNED MILL WITH THE BEST MA- 
CHINERY, IN A GOOD YEAR. 

Oil, 40 gals at 30c $12.00 

Meal, 675 pounds at $1.00 cwt 6.75 

Hull, 950 pounds at $4.00 per ton 1.90 

Lint, 30 pounds at 3c .90 

$21.55 

Cost of seed $15.00 

Cost of working, bags, etc 3.00 

Cost of fuel " 50 $18.50 

Profit $3-05 

A mill under these circumstances, working 5,000 tons- 
of seed per year would make a profit of about $15,000. 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 221 

TABLE X. 

SHOWING PRESENT PRODUCTS AND VALUES 
OBTAINED FROM ONE TON OF SEED IN A 
WELL DESIGNED MILL WITH THE BEST MA- 
CHINERY, IN A BAD YEAR. 

Oil, 40 gals at 20c $8.00 

Meal, 675 pounds, at 90c 6.08 

Hull, 950 pounds at $4.00 1.90 

Lint, 30 pounds at 3c 9^ 

$16.88 

Cost of seed $12.00 

Cost of working, bags, etc 3.00 

Cost of fuel 50 15.50 

Profit $1.38 

A mill under these circumstances, working 5.000 tons 
of seed per year, would make a profit of nearly $7,000 
This would be a dividend of 14 per cent, on a capital of 
$50,000 in the worst year. This shows the value of first- 
class designs in an oil mill. 

These figures are all average estimates. There is, or 
course, great variation in prices at different times, and in 
prices at different parts of the seed territory. They appiy 
also to the oil mill business, without supplemental or aux- 
iliary adjuncts, that are now coming into vogue. 

As a matter of fact, the best modern concerns in the 
East comprise in one plant, a ginnery, oil mill, fertilizer 
works and cotton mill, each department helping the other. 

In the operation of an oil mill, the personality of the man- 
ager and his capacity to make quick and accurate decisions 
on commercial points, has a greater influence on the profits 
than is the case in most other businesses. 



222 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

Hulls for Fuel. 

Throughout the ei tire South, the use of huhs for fuel 
has been totahy abandoned, and they are being used as 
stock food, many mills having added the business of fat- 
tening cattle for beef. The use of hulls and meal together 
has been thoroughly demonstrated to be excellent for fat- 
tening cattle for beef, and also for feeding dairy cattle. 
These combinations have been, in fact, so perfected in de- 
sign that several plants have been built to put the seed 
cotton as a raw material through a complete cycle of oper- 
ations, as follows : 

1. Separating the lint from the seed. 

2. Separating the short lint. 

3. Separating the hull and meat. 

4. Separating the oil and meal. 

5. Mixing meal and other ingredients for fertilizer. 

6. Feeding hulls and meal to cattle, using the manure 
as a fertilizer. 

7. Spinning and weaving the lint, making yarn and 
cloth. 

Thus, taking seed cotton as a raw material, the pro- 
ducts are taken out that are valuable for clothing and ani- 
mal food, and what is useless for these purposes is returned 
to the soil, to make the new crop. 

Table XL exhibits the value that might be obtained 
from the seed from ten million bales of cotton, if manu- 
factured under the ordinary improved processes now in 
conmion use, and sold at current prices. 




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224 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

TABLE XL 

SHOWING VALUE OF ORDINARY MANUFAC- 
TURED PRODUCTS OF COTTON SEED FROM 
TEN MILLION BALES OF COTTON. 

200 million gals oil (40 gals per ton from 

five million tons) at 30c $60,000,000 

Two and a half million tons hulls at $4.00. . 10.000,000 
One and two-thirds million tons of meal at 

$21.00 35,000,000 

TOO million pounds lint at 3c 3,000,000 

Total $108,000,000 

The total seed crop of 1900 as disposed of by ante-bel- 
lum planters would not have been worth $5,000,000, as 
against more than $100,000,000, if utilized according to 
the present known methods of obtaining values out of 
them. 

But the values indicated in the above table represent 
even much less than the possible results. 

Two and a half million tons of hulls will fatten for mar- 
ket two and a half njillion heavy beef cattle, or would 
maintain a proportionate number of dairy cattle. 

From these cattle come beef, tallow, glue, all dairy 
products, and still further developed industries. The oil^ 
besides being used as a cooking oil, gives also glycerine, 
candles, soap, lard, butter and indefinite other products 
and industries. Notable as an example of one of the uses 
to which it goes : The cylinders of the phonograpli are 
made from the "soap stock" residue in refining cotton oil 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 225 

Delinting Machinery. 

There is a legend in the oil business that there is a for- 
tune in store for the man who invents a means of cleaning 
the lint from upland cotton seed so that they have the ap- 
pearance of Sea Island or Egyptian seed. The country is 
full of inventors trying to make seed cleaning machines. 
Most of the workers at the problem have never stopped 
to ask the question where the fortune would come from, 
or why it should even be expected that there would be 
profit in a perfected delinting machine. Many machines 
have been invented and made^ — quite a number of good 
ones, but nobody has yet made the fortune. 

Whenever any evidence is exhibited at all in support of 
the assertion or idea that a delinting machine would be 
valuable, the argument is about as follows : The price of 
seed in America is $10.00 per ton; in England it is quoted 
about $24.00 per ton Therefore, if a machine could be in- 
vented to make American seed look like the Egyptian, 
there would be a fortune it. 

As a matter of fact, when seed are quoted at $10.00 in 
this country and $24.00 in England, the meaning of a ton 
in this country is 2,000 pounds, and in England 2.240 
pounds. If this be considered, and there be added to the 
cost of seed in this country the cost of cleaning, freight to 
port, ocean freight, handling and commission on the other 
side, and freight to mill on the other side, it will be found 
cheaper to work seed in America by the usual American 
process. The seed from the /American sea island cotton 
are already clean, and are already near ports in most cases, 
and yet no important business has ever been developed in 
shipping them abroad. The reason is, that if they can be 
purchased at a reasonable price, it pays better to work them 
in this country than to attempt to ship them. 

Linting. 

Much has been said about the value of the lint that is 
not true. After seed are well linted bv an ordinarv linter. 



226 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

what is left is of not much value as fibre or paper stock 
A good linter gets from 20 to 30 pounds of lint from a 
ton of seed, when about five tons per day is put through 
one machine. It is a considerable question whether it is 
worth the cost to take more than 30 pounds of lint from 
average seed. 

Assuming the ability of the linters to get say 30 pounds 
of lint per ton, the linters may be so arranged as to run 
the entire seed first through one half the Hnters, getting 
fifteen pounds per ton, and then run them through the 
other half, getting fifteen pounds more. The first lint 
would sell for say 4 cents per pound, making 60 cents per 
ton. The second lint would bring say 2 cents per pound, 
making 30 cents per ton, making a total of 90 cents per 
ton. 

On the other hand, running the seed through all the 
linters at one time would give, say 30 pounds of uniform 
quality, which would sell at about 3 cents per pound, 
making 90 cents per ton also. The question of profit 
would depend more on the market to be reached than 
upon anything in the mill. 

Storing Cotton Seed. 

Cotton seed are very perishable, and the danger of heat- 
ing might be estimated at 10 per cent, of their value. By 
care, this may be reduced to 5 per cent, or less. 

A mill having a capacity of 30 tons of seed per 24 hours, 
and a storage capacity of 1,000 tons of seed, from the 15th 
of September to the 15th of February, would work about 
3,000 tons; allowing for breakdowns and holidays. 

To work 5,000 tons instead of 3,000 may be accom- 
plished by increasing storage capacity to the extent of 
2,000 tons, making 3.000 instead of 1,000, and using the 
same machinery; or it may be done by leaving seed storage 
unchanged, and adding additional machinery to work the 
2,000 tons additional seed in the same time. 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 227 

By adding storage, there would be the following items 
of additional expense: 

1. LiabiUty of seed to rot or damage. 

2. Interest on money invested in 2,000 tons stored seed. 

3. Less oil per ton on stored seed than on seed worked 
fresh. 

4. Less price on oil out of stored seed, if in any way 
heated. 

5. Additional labor for working same tonnage for a 
longer time. 

6. Interest on increased warehouse cost. 

By adding new machinery there would be the following 
additional expenses and advantages : 

1. Interest on value of additional machinery. 

2. Repairs on additional machinery. 

3. Less cost per ton, because the same force can usually 
operate the additional machinery and make the increased 
output in the same time. 

4. The meal can be put on the market for the current 
year, instead of part of it having to be carried over to an- 
other season. 

By having ample mill capacity, as against large storage 
capacity, and working seed practically as fast as received, 
banking facilities become a much simpler matter, and in 
all respects the manufacture is facilitated and cheapened. 
But there is a limit to the profitable capacity of a single mill. 
It is believed that the most profitable size mill ranges from 
25 to 100 tons capacity, according to locality and amount 
of seed available. Mills larger than this become difficult 
to manage. One of the difficulties consists in the handling 
of the large amounts of seed which come by rail, during the 
short season in which seed are marketed. If larger capacity 
than 100 tons per day is desired, it is better to build two or 
more separate mills. 

It is a good rule in any manufactory to keep on hand 
the least raw material necessary for regular running, and 
to sell products about as they are ready for the market. 



228 HISTORY AND COMMERICAL FEATURES. 

To accumulate raw material is to speculate in it, and to 
hold the products is equally speculative; and a factory is 
not necessary if speculation is the object. It is best to ac- 
cept whatever profit there is in manufacture at current 
market prices of raw material and products, and when 
current market prices yield no profit, shut down and wait 
for one or the other of the markets to change. By this 
plan it is always eas}' to determine what a factory can 
afiford to pay for raw material. 

Whenever a mill is not in condition to operate, by be- 
ing unfinished or otherwise, it is especially dangerous to 
accumulate seed. If it seems desirable to purchase them, 
they should be bought and sold as a mercantile transactioti 
but not held to wait completion of a new mill, or repairs 
on an old one. 

Most Profitable Size of Mills. 

There are two ways in which the cotton oil business may 
be made to pay. ( i ) Build a large mill in a railroad 
centre, where it is easy to draw large quantities of seed 
from a large territory. (2) Build a small mill in a small 
town, with scant railroad facilities and depend mostly on 
wagon seed, and depend on home demand for all of the 
products, except oil. The large mill has to work harder 
for its supplies of seed, but is not hampered by local com- 
petition in any one place, because if seed should become too 
high in one town, it can easily abandon that town and find 
another one. 

In the matter of disposing of products; by reason of, hav- 
ing large quantities to dispose of, the large mill is in good 
shape to supply to the export market and thus 
make large sales as easy as small sales. But 
the advantage which a large mill possesses that out- 
Aveighs all the others, is that the volume of its business will 
justify it in employing competent men who will be able to 
turn out the very highest class products, and who will be 
able to carry the process very much further than less com- 




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HISTORY AND COMMERCIAI^ FEATURES. 23 1 

petent men. This would consist in refining the oil, mak- 
ing ^oap, etc., also in making fertilizers and stock feed. 

On the other hand, the small mill has distinct advantages 
of its own. These advantages have become accentuated 
of late years since the value of meal and hulls for stock feed 
has become better known. This gives the local mill a 
local market for all of its products except oil, that is to say, 
about 85 per cent of the weight of the cotton seed. 

In the matter of purchasing seed, it has little or no 
freights to pay, and generally has the co-operation of 
neighboring farmers. It is sometimes possible to exchange 
mill products for seed, thus enabling a small mill to ope- 
rate O'U the minimum amount of capital. These small mills 
vary in size from 20 to 40 tons of cotton seed per day of 
24 hours. They generally consume from 2,000 to 4,000 
tons of cotton seed in one season. 

The large mills in railroad centres have capacities rang- 
ing from 100 to 150 tons of seed in 24 hours, and consum- 
ing from 10,000 to 20,000 tons of seed in one season. 

The small local mill idea is growing in popularity, and 
some predict that it will finally take possession of the field. 
But there is ample field for the large central oil mill, pro- 
vided the business is worked out to a logical extent and 
more attention paid to producing finer products at higher 
prices. It may even reach a position where it can purchase 
the oil from the small local mills, and make much profit by 
turning this oil into high price products. 

In all kinds of manufacturing, the cost of raw material 
forms a smaller and smaller percentage of the value of the 
mill products, as these mill products become finer in 
quality. For this reason, variation in the cost of raw ma- 
terial is of the least consequence to a mill turning out the 
finest or most finished products. This is exhibited by the 
following examples: 



22,2 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

EXAMPLE (I.) ORDINARY PROCESS. 

Per cent, of value of products. 

Cost of seed $12.00 67 

Cost of working. . . . 3.00 17 

Cost of product. . . .$15.00 84 

Value of product — 
crude oil, meal, 
hulls $18.00 100 

Profit $ 3.00 16 

EXAMPLE (2.) AMPLIFIED PROCESS. 

Per cent, of value of products. 

Cost of seed $12.00 30 

Cost of working- 20.00 50 

Cost of product .... $32.00 80 

Value of product — 
butter oil, salad 
oil, compound lard, 
butterine. beef ...$40.00 100 

Profit $ 8.00 20 

It will be seen from the above examples that in the first 
case a rise in the price of seed means a rise on 67 per cent, 
of the value of the product, and that a rise of $3 would 
destroy the profits. 

But in the second example, a rise in the price of seed 
only affects 30 per cent, of the value of the product, and 
a rise of $3 would only cut down the profit from 20 per 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 233 

cent, to I2| per cent. It would require a rise of $8 per ton 
on seed to destroy all the profit. 

These examples show that refinements in manufacturing 
depend more on knowledge and skill than upon raw ma- 
terial. 

It is believed that there is but little difference in the profits 
between operating a 100-ton mill in a railroad centre, and 
operating a 40-ton mill in a small town surrounded by cot- 
ton plantations. The distinct advantages of each are about 
offset by distinctive disadvantages. 

The hundred-ton mill is able to operate on somewhat less 
exj^ense for labor and fixed charges; but it must pay 
freights on hulls and meal to the consuming markets. 

The forty-ton mill operates with somewhat more expense 
for labor and fixed charges ; but it has practically no freight 
to pay on seed or hulls and meal. 

At the present time, there seems to be more profit in 
operating mills within the limits of 40 to 100 tons capacity 
than those either smaller or larger. 

The following table shows complete cost or capital 1 1- 
vestment necessary for cotton seed oil mills, refineries 
and cotton ginneries. 



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HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 235 

The estimates in table XII. are based on refineries de- 
signed to turn out a variety of products, such as summer 
yellow, butter oil, white oils and miners' oils. 

If it is desired to make winter oils also, the cost would 
be increased about 50 per cent. If only. summer yellow oil 
is to be produced, the cost would be about 50 per cent, less 
than the table. 

The cost of a crude cotton seed oil mill may be said to be 
.about $1,000 per ton (of seed in 24 hours) capacity. 

The cost of refinery of about the character contemplated in 
Table XII. ranges from $300 to $500 per ton capacity of 
the crude oil mill. 

Transportation and Uses of Cotton Oil. 

The final test of cotton seed oil is edibihty. The high- 
■est prices can only be obtained on this basis. When the 
quality of an oil falls below this, it goes intoi other uses 
and brings lower prices. In the early days of the business, 
this oil was looked upon entirely as an adulterant. It was 
shipped to Italy and France as an adulterant for olive oil, 
and was shipped to the lard works or "packing houses" 
of the United States, as an adulterant for lard. These 
uses still continue, but are growing into more general 
favor on the merits of the oil itself. There is still some 
prejudice against it. and justly so when used as an adul- 
terant. But commerce is becoming accustomed to "com- 
pound lard," and "lard compound," and other names sug- 
gestive of the mixed character of the product; and the 
'business of making acceptable culinary articles from cot- 
ton seed oil has become legitimate and desirable. Some 
of these compounds contain pure hog lard; while some 
contain none at all, and are advertised as such. It is es- 
timated that 30 per cent, of the cotton oil produced in 
the United States is consumed in this manner. Most of 
the packing houses, where these lard compounds are made, 
are in the West. This business has recently commenced 
to grow in the South 



236 HISTORY AND COMMhRCIAL FEATURES. 

Formerly, owing to lack of skill at the oil mills, the oil 
was shipped in the crude state, to these distant works, 
where it was first refined and then uiilized. Latterly, the 
mills have begun refining the oil before shipping, thus 
making the additional profit. 

Oil is sold nominally by the gallon, but actually by the 
pound. The commercial gallon of cotton seed oil, crude or 
refined, weighs 7^ pounds. When oil is sold, the net 
weight is divided by 7^ in order to reduce it to gallons. In 
practice, this would often leave awkward fractions, so the 
custom is to multiply the weight by 2, and divide by 15, 
thus leaving any fraction as I5ths. 

Previous to about 1886, the standard package for both 
crude and refined cotton oil was second-hand kerosene 
barrels. These were cleaned with hot steam, until they 
had no (xlor of kerosene, and were lined with glue to en- 
sure tightness. If the work of cleaning is properly don-^, 
this makes an acceptable package. As the business grew, 
many became careless in cleaning the barrels, and many 
used varnish barrels and linseed oil barrels. This engen- 
dered a prejudice agamst all second-hand barrels. At tiie 
same time, the demand for second-hand kerosene oil bar- 
rels became greater than the supply, and within a very 
short while, it became the standard practice to use new 
barrels. 

The use of tank errs for domestic shipments has been 
steadily superseding barrels. Most of the packing houses 
own large numbers of tank cars, which they send out tO' 
oil mills for their oil. Most of the large mills also own. 
tank cars, in which they ship their product, and which 
they often use for purchasing crude oil from small mills, 
which are not equipped with refineries. Tank cars for 
cotton oil generally hold 6,000 to 7,000 gallons, or 45,000 
to 52,500 pounds. This is the most convenient way to 
transport oil of all grades. They are also, to some extent, 
being used for soap stock, or the residues from refining. 

Tank cars are provided with coils of pipe on the inside,. 



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238 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

SO arranged that hot steam may be used to thaw out the 
oil when it is congealed by cold weather. It is import- 
ant to see that these coils are always in good order, so that 
no steam may be blown direct into the oil. 

Oil for export must, of course, be put up in barrels. It 
is essential that the barrels be first-class, otherwise there 
will be great loss from leakage under the numerous hand- 
lings which they undergo. 

A small amount of oil is now being exported in tank 
steamships, arranged to carry it in bulk, in compartments. 
These ships ply between Southern ports of America, where 
there are large storage tanks, and certain ports of Europe, 
where there are similar facilities. 

About 65 per cent, of all the cotton oil produced in the 
United States is exported. About one-third of this, be- 
ing the best grades, goes to Holland, for use in making 
artificial butter, which reaches its perfection in that coun- 
try. The finest grades of summer yellow oil are known in 
the trade as "butter oil." Some of the best grades of 
oil also go to Southern European ports for admixture 
with olive oil, and also, to some extent, for an edible oil 
under its own name. South Europeans have always 
been accustomed to eating olive oil, as other people eat 
butter, and the poorer classes accept cotton oil as a cheap 
substitute. Large quantities of mferior grades, being 
about one-third of all our exports, go to Marseilles and 
neighboring ports for soap making. 

Inferior oils are frequently bleached by sulphuric acid 
at the refineries into "white oil," and used as an illumin- 
ant, in place of lard oil. The principal use of this oil is 
for admixture with petroleums of high flashing point, to 
be burned in miners' lamps. This grade of white cotton 
oil is generally known as "miners' oil." It should not be 
confused with prime white oil, which is bleached from 
first quality summer yellow, by the use of fullers earth, and 
which is used in compound lard. 

There are many minor uses for cotton oil, among which 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 239 

may be mentioned the packing of sardines and similar 
fish. It has been frequently tried as an adulterant for lin- 
seed oil, or as a substitute for it, m painting. The dif- 
ficulty has always been, that in its natural state, cotton 
oil will not dry out and leave the paint hard. Numerous 
processes have been exploited for making it into a drying 
oil; but none have so far been a commercial success. It 
has often been tried as a lubricant, but its gummy nature 
prevents any success in this field, except for the most or- 
dinary purposes. Several processes have been tried for 
removing the gum or resin. There have been some lab- 
oratory experiments, which seem to indicate that a use- 
ful gum may be extracted and used as a substitute for 
rubber, while leaving the oil in a condition to use as a lu- 
bricant, but as yet, these processes have not been com- 
mercially successful. 

Transportation and Use of Cotton Seed Meal. 

When the oil has been extracted by hydraulic presses, 
there remains the cake. Formerly, when the presses were 
differently constructed and the processes were somewhat 
different, this cake was softer than it is at the present 
time. It was largely exported as cake, and sold for cat- 
tle food. It was broken into pieces and fed, in connection 
with other material. In some cases it was ground fine, 
after being exported, and fed in this condition. It has 
been found that the finely ground meal mixes more readi- 
ly, and is more digestible than cake, and so the practice 
of feeding cake has been nearly abandoned. The Ger- 
mans were the first to realize the value of fine grinding. 
From the beginning of the business, very small quantities 
of cake, and large quantities of meal were exported to 
Germany, while England and other countries preferred 
cake. In some cases this preference for cake was caused 
by the fear of adulteration in meal. 

Cake was formerly packed into coarse secohd-hand 
gunny sacks and driven in with a mallet, in order to 



240 HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 

make a firm package. These packages varied in weight, 
but generally weighed about 200 pounds. 

Meal for export is ground very fine, and bolted clean. 
It is generally put up in 100 pound sacks, as one-twenti- 
eth of a "short ton" 01 2,000 pounds; but for special orders 
it is sometimes put up in 112 pound sacks, as one-twenti- 
eth of the "long ton," of 2,240 pounds, and sometimes in 
no pounds sacks, as 50 kilograms. All meal for domestic 
trade is put up in 100 pound sacks. 

The domestic demand was at first entirely as a fertilizer, 
both for use direct on the soil, and for mixing with other 
ingredients to make a commercial fertilizer. This de- 
mand grew to immense proportions in the Southeastern 
States, where fertilizers were universally used. From 1880 
to 1890, about 90 per cent, of the meal made in that sec- 
tion was used for fertilizer, about 5 per cent, was exported, 
and the remainder was fed to cattle. 

In the Southwest, where but little fertilizer was requir- 
ed, about 75 per cent, of the meal and cake was exported 
to Europe for cattle feeding, while the remainder was fed 
to cattle, at home. 

At the present time, cattle feeding has become such an 
extensive business, both in the Southeast and Southwest, 
that of the whole amcunt of meal produced in both sec- 
tions, about 35 per cent is fed to cattle, about 35 per cent. 
is used for fertilizers, and the remainder is exported for 
feed. 

It has been so clearly demonstrated by experiment 
stations, and by other practical tests, that the principal 
value of cotton seed meal Hes in its feeding, rather than its 
fertilizing qualities, that it is only a matter of time when 
practically all of the meal will be fed. The fertilizer works 
are already accommodating themselves to this condition, 
and are partly substituting other sources of nitrogen for 
the cotton seed meal. 

The sacks, in which meal is shipped, consist largely of 
second hand wheat sacks, made crig^inallv to hold lOG 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 24 1 

pounds of wheat for export from CalifDrnia to the Orient. 
These sacks are often re-shipped with hnseed to Eastern 
ports of the United States. When the Hnseed is used, 
the sacks are cleaned and put up in bales of i,ooo, and sold 
to cotton oil mills. Fertilizer factories and cattle feeders 
frecjuently return sacks to the oil mills, to be used again 
and again. Meal is sold by gross weight, that is, no de- 
duction is made for the weight of the sacks. 

It is very diflicult to empty absolutely all the meal from 
the sacks, and hence the returned sacks are somewdiat 
heavier than they v^tre at first, so that notwithstanding 
their damaged condition, necessitating repairs, the oil mills 
are always willing to allow consumers the full price of new 
sacks for all those returned. 

Transportation and Uses of Cotton Seed Hulls. 

The first use of cotton seed hulls was for fuel to run the 
oil mills. Mills of forty tons (seed) capacity, and upw^ard, 
always made enough hulls for a full supply of fuel, even 
with very ordinary steam plants; with good, econom- 
ical engines, there was considerable surplus; the larger 
the mill, the greater the surplus. It soon became a prob- 
lem to dispose of this large amount of useless product. It 
was difficult to even give it away. The bulky and light 
nature of the material, made it difficult of transportation, 
and so it w^as not of much fuel value to other plants located 
at a distance from the oil mill. A ton, in its loose state, 
occupies about 300 cubic feet, and is equal in fuel value to 
•one-quarter ton of coal, which occupies about ten cubic feet. 

The use of cotton seed hulls as a cattle food was tried 
•experimentally in the early days of the oil mill, but its true 
value, in comparison with other food stuffs was not real- 
ized until 1885 to 1890. About this time, systematic 
•cattle feeding commenced, as an adjunct to oil milling in 
the Southwest. Large herds of Texas cattle were bought 
^t low rates, and fed m pens near the mills, and when fat, 
•shipped to the packing houses. The value of hulls as a 



242 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATURES. 



cattle food was thus practically demonstrated on a large 
scale, so that there arose a steady demand for hulls from 
many sources, all over the cotton growing States. The 
problem of transportation then began to receive atten- 
tion. Hulls were at first shipped in Imlk in box cars. By 
careful tramping, about twelve tons may be loaded into a 
car. Many hulls are still shipped in this way, some arc 
put up by machinery into sacks; but the most general 
method is to pack them into bales about two feet square, 
weighing about lOO pounds. In this shape, 15 tons may 
be easily and quickly loaded into a box car. 

The style of bale now in use is not entirely satisfactory, 
for the reason that it is only partially covered, and there 
is great waste in handling. There is a demand for some 
better method of packing cotton seed hulls for ship- 
ment. 






TABLE XIII. 

SHOWING VALUE AND AMOUNT OF SEED. 
CRUSHED, AND VALUE OF CRUDE MILL 
PRODUCTS, 1870 TO 1900. 



No. of 
Mills. 



Toi;s of Seed. 



Value of Seed. 



Value of Products. 



1870 


so 


1875 


35 


1^80 


45 


lg85 


80 


ISUO 


no 


iMif) 


250 


I'JOU 


400 



80,000 

150,000 

280,000 

550,000 

1,000,000 

1,800,000 

1,900,100 



$ 640.000 
1,500.000 
2,800,000 
5,500 000 
12,000 000 
21,600.000 
23,800.000 



$ 1,500,000 

2,yoo.ooo 
5,100.000 

9,6(10.000 
23 hOO.OOO 
33,0(10 030 
35,000,000 



CHAPTER XIL 

Cotton Sec^ ®il. flDccbanical jfcaturee anb 

|p.rOCC96C6. 

The previous chapter onthn^d the !-:chednle of oil mill 
operations. This chapter will discuss the machines for per- 
forming these operations. 

Seed Handling Machinery — Conveyors. 

Seed are moved horizontally by spiral steel conveyors, 
shown in Figure 68. Conveyors are right and left hand, as 



I 




Fig. 68. Right and Left Hand Conveyors. 

shown. Either hand conveyor may be made to carry seed in 
either direction, according to the direction it is made to 
revolve. 

It is the best practice to have, as far as possible, all con- 
veyors of the same size and hand in any one mill, in order to 
facilitate repairs, and the keeping of spare parts on hand. 



'/s> 



-—5 IN.- 



^-^\\-<S:^^- 



4-Inch Conveyor Box. 



- 7 IN. 



i 



6-Inch Conveyor Box. 



10 IN. 



9-Inch Conveyor Box. 



r 



13 IN. 



w 



m 



j%%y |ci$^'-^?^j;?i$j.x^i:<.~;?Ssx-^^»s^^'»yt"^ <^<^':s^^^^x«J-\^^ ly.^?;^ 



i2-Inch Conveyor Box. 



^ 

r 






r^ 






^ 



/7 



/yv. 



i6-Inch Conveyor Box. 



2.:I.N. 



w 



Fig. 69. Wooden Boxes for Conveyors. 



HISTORY AND COMMERCIAL FEATUKKS 



245 



Most mills use only right hand conveyurs, except for special 
purposes, as shown in the last two examples in Figure 68. 
Mills of smaller capacity than 40 tons per day generally use 
6-inch conveyors. Mills from 40 to 80 tons use 9-inch, while 
12-inch is used in large mills. For the heavy work of un- 
loading seed from cars in any size mill, the larger sizes are 
used, even up to 16-inch. The size of conveyors for this 




Fig. 70. Right Angle Conveyor Drive. 

work is determined more by the amount of seed likely to be 
received by rail in a given time, than by the actual capacity of 
the mill. 

Conveyors run in wooden boxes, lined in the bottom with 
sheet iron. Figure 69 shows the proper size to make boxes 
for conveyors. 

A corner may be turned by the use of the device shown in 
Figure 70. 



246 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 



Conveyors may be run at an inclination of as much as 30 
degrees from the horizontal, if occasion requires. 

The following table shows the speeds and capacities of 
various size conveyors for use in oil mills. This data is based 
on the best practice; but it is possible to operate conveyors 
at 50 per cent, higher speeds, with corresponding increased 
capacities. It is also possible to run them as slow as may b- 
desired. 

TABLE XIV. 

SHOWING SIZES, SPEEDS AND WORKING CA- 
PACITIES OF STANDARD STEEL CONVEYORS 
FOR COTTON SEED. 



Diameter 


Length 


Size Driving End 


Revolutions 


Tons 


Inches 


Feet 


Inches 


Per Minute. 


Per Hour 


4 


s 


1 


60 


K 


6 


10 


^% 


80 


2 


9 


10 


^% 


100 


4 


12 


12 


2 


120 


8 


16 


12 


2 or 3 


120 


12 



Elevators. 

Seed are moved vertically by elevators. The most com- 
mon form is shown at the left of Figure 124. The pulley in 
the top should be 20 to 40 inches in diameter — the larger 
the better. For heavy work, such as unloading seed from 
cars, pulleys as large as 60 inches are sometimes used. The 
pulley in the bottom is usually smaller, say 12 to 20 inches. 

The capacity of an elevator depends upon the size of the 
cups, their distance apart, and the speed of the belt. Oil 
mills smaller than 40 tons capacity generally use elevators 
with belts 6 inches wide, which carry 5x3 cups. Mills from 
40 to 80 tons use belts 8 inches wide, which carry 7x4 
cups, and larger mills use 10 to 12 inch belts, and cups in 
proportion. In all mills, the elevators for unloading cars ars 
made large or small, (as in the case of conveyors), accord- 





Fig. 71. Sprocket Chain Elevators. 



248 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

ing to the amount of seed to be handled in a given time, re- 
gardless of capacity cf the mill 

Elevators generally run 50 revolutions of head pulley per 
minute. They may be run as slow as 30 or as fast as 70. 

Figure 71 shows two forms of sprocket-chain elevators, 
which are in use in many mills. It is mostly a matter of 
personal opinion whether the belt or chain elevator gives the 
best satisfaction. 

It frequently occurs that the superintendent of a mill wilt 
prefer some special machine, on account of his familiarity 
and skill with it. Thus this machine is the best under his 
management. Another machine may be equally as good for 
the purpose in the hands of a man who is accustomed to it. 

Receiving Seed — From Cars. 

Seed mostly reach the mills loose in box cars. The cars 
are weighed on track scales, and run up alongside conveyors. 
Seed are thrown out into conveyor with broad, short pitch- 
forks, or with scoop shovels. The conveyor delivers them to 
an elevator which takes them to the top of the seed house 
and delivers them to conveyors which distribute them over 
the house. 

From Wagons. 

Wagons usually drive up to the seed house and have their 
seed unloaded by hand through windows direct into the 
house. In some cases, where there is a very large wagon 
trade, there are unloading conveyors and elevators arranged 
on the same plan as for unloading cars. 

The Milling Process — Cleaning. 

The seed are brought from the seed house to the mill by 
means of conveyors and elevators. 

It is necessary to free the seed from two classes of foreign 
matter : ( i ) Matter, such as sand, that is smaller than the 
seed; (2) matter, such as bolls and locks of cotton, that is 




in 

d 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. .25 1 

larger than seed. Both of these objects are accoinpHshed by 
means of revolving- screens, covered with perforated metal 
or wire cloth: In the first instance having perforations -J" 
diameter, and in the second, f". Sometimes there is one 
screen for each of these operations, and sometimes the two 
are accomplished by one screen, having (longitudinally) 
half or two-thirds of its surface covered with ^" perf )rations 
and the remainder with f ". Such a combined boll and sand 
screen is shown in Figure 72. The interior construction is 
similar to Figure 124. 

Seed enters at left hand, or higher end. Sand is removed 
by first part, and falls out behind. Clean seed fall into con- 
veyor box. Bolls and other large particles fall out from 
inside of reel on the floor at the right. Sometimes magnets 
are inserted in the spouts to catch particles of iron. Some- 
times fans are introduced under the screen, to blow the seed 
into the conveyor and leave iron and other heavy particles to 
fall out on the floor, as shown in Figure 73. 



252 MIvCIlANICAI, FEATrUKS AND PROCESSES. 

Sand and Boll Screen, Fig. 73 — Lettering. 

A. — Revolving reel. 

B. — Spout where tailings fall out. 

C. — Hopper to drop seed on shaker. 

D. — Shaker to distribute seed in broad sleet over air 
blast. 

E. — Shaft and eccentric to operate shaker. 

F. — Fan. 

G. — Blast box with perforated metal side to let out air. 

H. — Gravity spout to catch nails and other heavy articles, 

J. — Conveyor to take away the cleaned seed. 

Mills of less than 40 tons capacity generally use a com- 
bined sand and boll screen, with the revolving reel about 5 
feet diameter and 10 to 12 feet long. Mills of 40 to 60 tons 
capacity use combined sand and boll screen 5'xi4'. Larger 
mills use se|)arate sand screen and separate boll screen, 

The speed of the reel should be 20 revolutions per minute. 

There are some other cleaning methods in rare use. One 
of them consists in revolving paddles inside of stationary 
perforated cage. 

In many cases, the cleaning machinery is assisted by per- 
forated sheet iron bottoms under the conveyors, wh.ich are 
used for unloading seed or for carrying them from seed 
house to mill. These are very valuable in sandy countries, 
where an unusual quantity of sand is found in the seed. 
This eliminates most of the sand before the seed are stored. 

In the material collected from the boll screen is some good 
seed cotton. This is picked over by hand and ginned. The 
lint from tliis cotton is called "grabots." On account of the 
quantities of iron found in the material, which is liable to 
strike tire on the gin saws, it is quite dangerous to gin 
grabots. For this reason grabot gins should be isolated. 
Small mills usually have their grabots ginned at a public 
ginnery. Mills of 100 tons capacity and larger frequently 
have their own grabot gin. 




Fig. J2^. End Section Sand and Boll Screen. 



254 MECHANICAL FEATURES 'AND PROCESSES. 

Linting. 

From the cleaning processes, seed pass to the Hnters, 
which are machines for removing the short lint which is left 
en the seed by the gins. Figures 75 and 76 are general 
views, showing the usual arrangement of these machines. 
Seed are fed to the hoppers above, passed through the 
machine and taken away by the conveyor below in front. 

Cotton Seed Linter, Fig. 74 — Lettering. 

A. — Feed box. with fluted feed roll. 

B. — Breast, with revolving float. 

C. — Saws on cylinder. 

D. — Ribs between saws. 

E. — Breast board to hold ribs. 

F. — Brush to clear saws. 

G.— Lint flue. 

IB — Condenser, perforated drum. 

J. — Compression roll. 

K. — Roll of lint on cere. 

Process. 

Seed are fed into feed box A. 

Fluted roll feeds them regularly into breast, where float 
B keeps them revolvirg in a roll. 

Saws remove the lint. 

Brush clears tlie lint from saws rnd blows it against con- 
denser drum. 

Revolving drum condenses lint into a roll. 

Ribs D hold the seed back and make the u fall out at E. 

Formerly the flue between linter and condenser was mach 
long, and was provided with a slatted sub flue, for sifting 
out dust from the cotton, in its passage to the condenser, 
but it has been found that they were of no material advan- 
tage, and they are now made as short as possible, ?s shown 
in Figure 74. 

There has been some effort made to introduce into the 



256 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

larger oil mills the lint flue system, making one condenser 
ser\-e several linters, as in cotton ginneries. This would 
have the ad\'antage of cleanliness, most of the dust heing 
blown out of the room through a dust pipe o^'er the con- 
denser. But up to the present time, the system has not been 
much used. 

The capacity of cue linter is rated at 10 tons of seed per 
day of 24 hours; but this may be \-aried from 3 to 15 tons, 
according to the speed of the feed roll. The slower this runs, 
and the smaller the amount put through, (generally speak- 
ing) the more lint may be taken from the seed. Most oil 
mills are so equipped that each linter takes 8 to 10 tons per 
day. 

The speed of the saw cylinder should l)e about 350 revo- 
lutions per minute. 

The saws of linters become quickly dulled, and thus Irs^ 
some of their capacity to remove the lint. It is important 
to keep them well sharpened. Each oil mill should have a 
machine for sharpening linter saws, and there should be on^ 
or two extra saw cylinders, so that they may be sharpened 
while others are being used. For the greatest yield of lint 
the saw cvlinders should not run more than one week without 
sharpening. 

In the cotton gin, it is not permissible to have the saws 
too sharp, because they would then cut the fibres of cotton 
and make "gin cut cotton." 

The saws must have teeth of proper shape, and somewhat 
smooth, in order to pull the lint off the seed, rather than cut 
it. But in the oil mill, it is necessary to have sharp teeth on 
the linters, in order to cut the short lint off the seed as 
closely as possible. The cpiality of this lint is not much 
depreciated by sharp teeth. This lint is really too short to be 
pulled off the seed, but must be cut off. 

Formerly it was not considered necessary to sharpen 
linter saws more than two or three times in one season. The 
cotton gins did not clean the seed as well as they do now, 
and hence the oil mill linters made a good vield of lint, even 




o 



o 
o 



h4 



o 



o 

I— I 




Fig. yy. Gotten Seed HuUer. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 263 

with dull saws. With the impro\ement in cotton ginning, 
it became necessan- for the oil mills to make a correspond- 
ing improvement in the linting. 

Huller. 

From the linters, the seed pass to the huller, which is a 
machine for cutting the seed to pieces, so the kernel may be 
separated from the hull. There are two forms of huller in 
general use. 

Huller Fig. 78 — Lettering. 

xA. — Seed feeder. (See also Figure 8i.) 

B. — Revolving cylinder. 

C. — Cylinder knives. 

D. — Concave knives. 

E. — Wooden staves to steady the concave kni\-es. 

F. — Clamps to hold the wooden staves in place. 

G. — Conveyor to take away product. 

H. — Balancing weights. 

The cylinder knives have four cutting edges. One set of 
edges are used until dull, ( say one to three weeks) when all 
knives are turned over, to bring another set of cutting edges 
into action. When all of the edges are dull, the knives are 
removed and ground. It is generally desirable to have an 
extra set of knives on hand, so that one set may be grinding 
while the other is in use. On account of the high speed at 
which the knife cylinder revolves, it is essential that it 
should be well balanced. In order to keep it so, the knives 
should be weighed, when reground, and steps taken to bring 
them all to the same weight by bolting on metal or drilling 
out metal. Besides doing this, after the knives have been 
bolted in place, the whole cylinder should be taken out and 
carefully put in place on straight edges by adjusting the 
balance weights which are inside the hollow cvlinder. 

The weights must be so adjusted that the cylinder is not 



264 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

only in l^alance while standing, but also while running at its 
regular speed. It is quite possible to so adjust the weights 
in opposite sides and opposite ends, that the cylinder as a 
whole is in balance while standing, but when runnmg at a 
high speed, each end might be out of balance on its own 
account, and the unbalanced centrifugal force would cause 
the machine to shake. In balancing a huller cylinder, on 
straight edges, it might be necessary to make several run- 
ning trials before it is put in perfect running balance. 

The "concave" knives also have four cutting edges, which 
are treated in the same manner as the cylinder knives. Each 
concave knive is adjustable to and from the line of cylinder 
knives by means of individual set screw^s. The usual method 
of procedure for setting huller knives is, when all are sharp, 
set up each concave knife, so the cylinder knife clears it about 
3-32", and run the machine as long as it does satisfactory 
work, say three or four days, then set the concave knives 
closer, and run as long as it dees good work, then turn 
another cutting edge on concave knives; then, when 
these are dull, turn a new edge (^f the cylinder knives, and so 
on, until all of the eight sets of sharp edsjes have been used. 
There can be no fixed rule about this procedure, however, 
because some seed are more difficult to cut correctly than 
others. The method used must be judged entirelv by the 
result. Early in the season,, when seed are full of sap, the 
knives must be very sharp, in order tO' cut the seed without 
mashing them. 

At that time, the knives have to be set quite close, in order 
to cut fine, because the juicy meats adhere m( re firmly to the 
hull, and are harder to separate. Later in the season, when 
seed are dryer, it is better to run with knife space more op.n, 
both to save the knives and because it is not best to cut dry 
seed too fine. If cut too fine, much of the meats go to dust, 
and attach themselves to the lint on the hull, so that they 
cannot be well separated. 

In grinding these knives, it is important to leave the edges 
parallel with the flat of the knife. Some superintendents 




Fig. 78. Section Through Hnller. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 269 

erroneourly suppose that the edges next the hue of bolts ( in 
Figure 78) should be ground somewhat thinner than the 
outer edges, giving a concav^e appearance. In this case, seed 
are liable to lie in this depression, and pass without being cut. 

This form of huUer is made with knives 20 inches long, or 
with knives 30 inches long. The former has a rated capacity 
of 30 tons of seed per day of 24 hours, and the latter 60 
tons. They will safely hull 50 per cent, more than this. 

It is recommended that mills of more than 6o tons capacity 
have at least two hullers, either for the purpose of making 
the load lighter on each, or to run one to full capacity, and 
hold the other in reserve, in case of accident ; and to run each 
of them alternate weeks. 

The actual cutting capacity of a huller is many times the 
rated capacity. The point that practically limits the capacity 
is the delivery from the machine. When a huller chokes, 
from apparent overload, it is always found that the deliver- 
ing side is choked. If the conveyor will keep the product 
away at all times, it is nearly impossible to choke a huller. 
In case of a choke, relieve the delivery, and then run the 
engine backward about one turn. 

The speed of the 20-inch huller should be 1,300 revolu- 
tions per minute. The speed of the 30-inch huller should be 
900 revolutions per minute. 

It is not recommended to run them at lower speeds. 

The stated speeds may be exceeded 10 per cent, without 
damage, if the cylinders are well balanced. They cut some- 
what better at the higher speeds, but are more apt to give 
trouble. 

Figure yj shows a general view of this huller. 

Another popular form of huller is shown in Figures 79 
and 80. The principles of operation are the same as in the 
previous machine, but the mechanical construction is some- 
what different. 



270 MKCHANICAL FHATURES AND PROCESSES. 

Huller, Fig. 80 — Lettering. 

A. — Seed feeder (See also Figure 81). 

B. — Revolving cylinder. 

C. — Concave knives. 

D. — Concave frame. 

E. — Wooden staves to steady the concave knives. 

F. — Adjustment for whole concave. 

G. — Balancing- weights. 

H. — Pc-int of delivery. 

J. — Pivot on which concave is adjusted. 

K. — Conveyor to take product away. 

In this machine the cylinder kni\-es are carried in radial 
slots in the cylinder, instead of being b(jlted on, as in the 
other macliine. The concave knives are all adjusted at one 
time, by moving the whole conca\'e frame, instead of by the 
indi\-idual screws, as in the other machine. 

This form of huller is made in only one s'ze, viz : With 30- 
inch knives. 

The speed should be 900 revolutions per minute. This 
may be safely exceeded 10 per cent., hut should not be de- 
creased. 

It has a rated capacity of 80 tons of seed per day of 24 
hours, but may be forced to 50 per cent, beyond this, 
especially at the increased speed. 

Knife Grinder. 

Most mills are ecjuipped with knife-grinding machines for 
sharpening huller knives. These generally consist of a large 
emery wheel and a self-operating carriage to which the knif ^ 
is attached to be ground. Extra sets of knives are kept 
ground, ready to insert in the hullers when necessary. 

]\Iills below 60 tons capacity rarely have knife grinders. 
They send their knives to a shop or a neighboring mill to be 
ground. 

The earliest machines invented for hulling cotton seed, 
were provided with sharp knives like wood planer knives, 




Fig. So. Section Through Huller. 



2/2 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

set in a revolving cylinder, or in a disc. These prox'ed en- 
tirely useless. They would become dulled in a very short 
time, and the keen edges were not strong enough to with- 
stand the foreign matter which always finds its way into a 
huller, no matter what process of cleaning ])recedes it. 

Some hullers have been constructed with various forms of 
knife carried in revolving discs, sometimes horizontally, and 
sometimes vertically. But the two forms here illustrated 
and described are the only ones in actual use in first-class oil 
mills in the United States. 

Separating Screen. 

From the huller, the cut seed are conveyed to a revolving 
screen similar to the sand and boll screen. This has perfora- 
tions 'j-})2'' diameter. The meats pass through the ])erfora- 
tions, while the hulls roll out as tailings. This screen rarely 
makes a perfect separation, and as the products leave it, there 
is still some meat in the hulls, and some hull in the meats. A 
variety of supplementary machines are in use for further 
separation, such as shaking screens, and revolving beaters in 
perforated cages, and conveyors with perforated bottoms. 
The most standard practice is to have a shaker directly under 
the screen, on which the meats fall as they come through the 
main screen. This shaker removes most of the remaining 
hull from the meats. The hulls which come from the main 
screen are carried to the place of storage or shipment in a 
conveyor having a perforated bottom, so that the meats yet 
remaining in the hulls are sifted through and removed by a 
smaller conveyor underneath. This arrangement is shown 
in Figure 82, where the hull conveyor is shown as right 
hand, bringing the hulls away from the screen, and the small 
conveyor left hand, carrying the meats back. It is usual to 
equip 40 to 60 feet of the hull conveyor in this manner. 
Sometimes this portion of the conveyor is made with cut 
flights, or interrupted spirals, for the purpose of stirring the 
hulls to perfectly shake out the small particles of entangled 
meats. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 



275 



The capacity and speeds of separator screens are about the 
same as sand and boll screens. 

The care to be given to the matter of perfect separation of 
hulls and meat is to some extent dependent upon the 
market conditions. Under any and all circumstances the 
greatest care should be taken to prevent meats from going 
away with the hulls. If some hulls go with the meats, they 
are finally sold with the cotton seed meal ; and if the particu- 
lar meal market supplied by the mill is not strict about qual- 
itv, no harm is done. Usually, however, the cleanest meal is 
the most salable, and brings the greatest net returns. 




Fig. 82. Separating Conveyor. 



Rolls. 



From the separating screens, the meats pass to crushing 
rolls. Figures 83 to 89 show the various forms of rolls in 
common use. They all accomplish the same purpose in the 
same way, viz : By crushing the meats between the successive 
pairs of rolls. The various forms are shown to illustrate the 
different manners of driving the upper rolls from the main or 
bottom roll. All of the various methods are in successful use, 
and the particular method to be selected is mostly determined 




Fig. 83. Diagram Serpentine Drive for Rolls. 




•Sx 



CO 
6 




Fig. 85. Diagram Tandem Drive for Four-High Rolls. 




Fig. 86. Diaj^ram Tandem Drive for Five-High Rolls. 







U^ 



o 




Fig. 88. 



Diagram Tandem Drive with Tightener. Five-High Rolls. 



284 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

by individual taste. The lielt-driven rolls have the advantage 
of running with less noise, while the geared rolls give some- 
what less trouble. 

The capacity of these machines is governed by the numbsr 
of rolls, and by their length. The smallest size has 4 rolls, 
24 inches long, and is suitable for mills up to 30 tons 
capacity. The largest size has 5 rolls. 60 inches long, and is 
suitable for mills 80 to 150 tons capacity. 

The speed of rolls should be 180 revolutions per minute. 

This may be varied 15 per cent, either way. 

Heaters. 

From the rolls, the crushed meats are taken to the heater, 
where they are cooked, preparatory to being presse.l. This is 
one of the most important operations in the mill, and one re- 
quiring the most care and personal judgment. The objects 
of cooking are ( i ) to coagulate the albumen, so that it will 
remain with the solid matter in the press and not pass off 
with the oil; (2) to make limpid the oil contained in the 
meats, so it will more readily flow; (3) to evaporate the 
excess of moisture. If the cooking process is not carried far 
enough, the above objects will not be accomplished, and the 
oil will be mucilaginous from the effects of the contained 
albumen ; the yield will be reduced, and the excess water will 
cause the press cloths to break. If the process is carried too 
far. the oil cells become hardened, the yield of oil is reduced 
and its flavor is injured. 

There is no general rule by which to determine how long 
the cooking process shall continue. It must be determined by 
judging of samples, as the cooking proceeds. The time re- 
quired varies from 15 to 40 minutes, (usually about 20 min- 
utes), according to style of heater used, amount of meats 
cooked at a time, amount of steam pressure, dryness of 
steam, and character of meats being cooked. In any par- 
ticular mill, most of the above varial^les are known and can 
be kept reasonably constant, so that the only governing- 
element to be considered from day to day, is the quality of 




Fig. 89. Five-High Geared Rolls, 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 287 

meats. This generally remains constant for several days at 
a time, and sometimes for several weeks, so that the clock 
may be relied upon as a general guide for cooking, but 
always supplemented by sampling, and by observing the 
actual yield of the oil from the presses. 

The above relates to the use of uniform steam pressure 
and varying time of cooking, to suit different kinds of 
meats. Another plan, highly thought of by many good oil 
mill men, is to keep the time of cooking constant, and by 
adjusting the reducing valve, vary the steam pressure to 
suit different kinds of meats. This plan is more convenient 
and reliable, for the reason that the cook can usually re- 
adjust the valve for quicker or slower cooking better than 
he can read varying periods on the clock. 

Another guide is temperature. It is found by ex- 
periment that the proper temperature to which the meats 
should be gradually raised, is 220 degrees F. Under most 
circumstances, a reliable dial thermometer, with end pro- 
jecting into the air space, inside a heater, just above the 
meats, would indicate when the process is complete, but 
for some reason this method has never come into practical 
use. 

The thermometer is a valuable adjunct to a heater, and 
should be observed as a check on other methods. A heater 
is always provided with a steam gauge connected to its 
heating jacket, and the attendant is careful to see that the 
pressure is always constant (50, 60, and sometimes 100 
pounds per square inch), but this alone is no criterion for 
the temperature, because if the water of condensation is 
not kept constantly trapped out. the temperature will run 
down, while a high pressure is still indicated on the gauge. 
One of the most important things in cooking is to keep 
water of condensation trapped out of the steam space 
around the heaters. 

The usual practice is to install two 52-inch heaters or one 
72-inch heater for every two presses (say mill capacity 40 
tons per day). The 52-inch heater cooks enough meats at 



288 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND TROCESSES. 

one charge for two presses, and with 50 pounds steam 
pressure, will on the average, complete a cooking in about 30 
minutes. Thus two heaters will deliver eight pressfulls 
per hour, or serve the twO' presses four times per hour. The 
72-inch heater cooks enough meats at one charge for three 
pressfulls, and with 50 pounds steam pressure, will, on the 
average, complete a cooking in 20 minutes, thus delivering 
nine pressfulls per hour. The heaters may be crowded 
beyond the capacity above mentioned by filling them fuller, 
(say 2h pressfulls for the 52-inch heaters, and 3^ for the 
72-inch heaters), and carrying a higher steam pressure. 
This practice always leads to inferior products (making oil 
too red and cake too hard) and should not be followed. 
Some experts even prefer to cook only one pressfull in a 
heater, and to use very low steam pressure, even dow^n to 
25 pounds. There seems to be no^ good reason for not 
cooking as much as two pressfulls at a time, but there is 
some virtue in the lower steam pressures. The only ol^jec- 
tion is that it requires longer time to cook, and hence, 
necessitates the installation of a larger number of heaters 
to do the same amount of work. 

;\ mill with only one press would usually have one 52- 
inch heater. This would be at first charged with enough 
meats for two presses. When the cooking is complete, half 
the meats are drawn cut to supply the press, and the heiter 
refilled with one pressfull of raw meats. Treated in this 
wav, the heater will turn out one pressfull every 15 to 20 
minutes, and the cooking will go on ccntinuously, instead 
of internuttentlv. as is the case when using more than one 
heater. 

F'igures 90 to 95 show various forms and arrangements 
of heaters. 




■Ofj 



d 

d 







57' 



d 







o 






O 







-+ 

o 



O 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 299 

Triple Heater, Fig. 95 — Lettering. 

A. — Charging hoppers to hold a measured quantity of 
meats while waiting to be dumped into heaters. 

B. — Cooking heaters. 

C. — Conical head to carry stirrer arms. 

D. — Stirrer arms. 

E. — Space for steam to make the heat. 

F. — \"ertical stirrer shaft. 

G. — Storage or sub-heater, to keep meats warm while 
waiting to be used. 

H. — Horizontal dri\-ing shaft. 

J. — Lid partly open to temper the cooking, 

K. — Gate to dump charging hopper. 

L. — Lever to operate charging gate. 

M. — Former to make cakes for presses. 

Process. 

Charging spouts are filled with crushed meats by over- 
head con\-eyor. 

Gate over one heater is opened, and the charge of meat 
c[uickly dumped into that heater. 

After a few minutes, the other heater is similarly 
charged. When the first charge has become cooked, it is 
dumped into storage heater, from which it is drawn for use 
in the "former," which is the next machine in order. 

First heater is again charged as before. In a few min- 
utes more, the second heater has finished its cooking, and 
it is dumped into the storage heater. 

Second heater is recharged, and the cycle of operations 
rej)eats itself, each heater being charged alternatel}', and 
timed to finish the successive cooking at ecjual intervals. 

This process is actually intermittent, but is in effect, 
practically continuous, on account of the storage of the 
cooked meats m the lower heater, while being used. 

This triple arrangement of heaters is not generally in- 
stalled in smaller size than 72-inch. One set of 72-inch 



300 MECHANICAL FEATURES *\ND PROCESSES. 

trii)]e heaters is about right for supplying 5 to 6 presses, or 
a mill capacity of lOO to 120 tons of seed per day. 

Triple heaters are not so much in vogue as formerly. 
Tlie arrangement shown in Figure 00 is almost universally 
adopted for tlie smaller size heaters, and in fact, now gener- 
ally preferred for all sizes. 

There are various methods of driving the stirrer shafts 
in heaters, as shown in the different engravings. 

Figure 90 shows four heaters driven from a single 
underneath horizontal shaft, parallel with the line of 
heaters. Figure 91 shows the same general arrangement, 
except that each heater is independently driven. Figure 93 
shows two heaters independently driven by underneath 
shafts at right angles to the line of the heaters. 

Figure 92 shows a form of overhead driving. All of 
these various forms are in successful use, but tlie various 
underneath drives are the most popular. These are all self- 
contained, all the various shaft supports being provided 
for in the design of the heaters, while the overhead drives 
require supplementary supports, independent of the heaters. 
The particular form to be used in any given case must de- 
pend upon the conditions, and upon personal preference. 

The speed of the stirrer shafts should be about 35 revo- 
lutions per minute. The bevel gearing is usually arranged 
so that the horizontal driving shaft runs three times as fast. 
Thus the shaft to which the belt is applied should run about 
105 revolutions. 

Former. 

When the meats have been cooked, it is necessary to form 
them into cakes which may be put into the hydraulic press. 
The machine for making these cakes is called the former. 

Figure 96 shows a direct-acting steam former, with 
steam carriage. 

The carriage brings a measured quantity of cooked 
meats from the heater and deposits them on a press cloth 
spread in the gap shown. Steam is admitted under the 



302 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

ram, and forces it up, thus pressing the cake against the 
upper frame. Steam is discharged, and the ram drops 
back into position shown. The two ends of the press cloth 
are folded over cake. Cake is removed on a sheet iron pan, 
and inserted in the press. The method of removing the 
cakes is shown in Figure 97. The various ways in which 
the former is arranged for receiving the meats from the 
heaters are shown in Figures 90 to 94. 

Formers are sometimes made without the steam carriage 
attachment, in which case the operative pulls out by hand 
the carriage, which delivers the measured quantity of 
meats from the heater. The former shown in Figure 94 
has hand carriage. 

Sometimes the former ram is operated by compressed 
air, instead of steam. This has the advantage of being 
cooler and more agreeable to the operatives, and it avoids 
the unpleasant caking and cooking of the scattered particles 
of meats, which chance to spill out and fall on the cylinders. 

Sometimes the former is operated from a hydraulic pump 
and accumulator. 

Sometimes, though rarely, the former is operated by 
belt power. This is called a power former. This has gone 
out of use, except for the smallest mills. 

The direct acting steam former, first discussed, is the 
most in favor, though the plan of operation by compressed 
air, which is now new. may come into general use. 

Press. 

When the cakes have l^een formed, they are lifted on a 
steel pan and inserted by hand into the compartments or 
"boxes" of a hydraulic press, and subjected to a pressure 
of about 350 tons, for ten to twenty minutes. The time 
allowed for a press to stand under pressure and drip, de- 
pends upon the relative balance between the capacities of 
the heaters and the presses. The heater capacity is usually 
so proportioned that, when cooking four charges per hour, 
the rated capacity of the mill may be attained; the press 




o 



O 

QJ 







s 

o 
o 



O 

o 

D 







Fig. 99. Oil Press, Showing Valves. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 3II 

capacity is arranged so that by making four pressings per 
hour, they will keep up with the heaters. 

The yield of oil is to some extent increased the longer a 
press is allowed to stand under pressure; but if this is done to 
the extent of making the heaters wait, the cajmcity of the 
mill will be proportionately decreased. 

Some mills install an excess of presses, so that they may 
be allowed extra time to drain. But careful judgment must 
be exercised, not to increase the cost of the mill to a point 
where the interest on the extra investment will not be repaid 
by the increase in yield of oil. 

It will now be seen that the rapidity of the cooking and 
the pressing determines the capacity of the mill, and that 
this capacity will thus vary with character of the seed 
worked. One (15 box) pressing represents a capacity of 
about ^ ton of seed, hence at four pressings i:er hour, each 
press will have a capacity of 24 tons of seed per day of 24 
hours; at 3-! per hour, 21 tons; and at 3 per hour, 18 tons. 

Figure 99 is a side view of the press, showing the valves 
by which it is controlled. 

The hydraulic ram which applies the pressure is usually 
16 inclies diameter. The pressure applied to the ram by the 
hydraulic pump is about 3,500 pounds per scjuare inch. 
This makes a total pressure of 700,000 pounds ap- 
plied to the cakes. As the cakes are about 14 by 32 
inches, or 448 square inches area, the pressure per square 
inch on the cakes is about 1,600 pounds. 

Hydraulic Packing 

It is necessary to have a special packing to make the joint 
between the ram and the cylinder. Figure 101 shows the 
cylinder in section. The packing is shown at A. It con- 
sists of a crimp made of sole leather, formed in a mould 
made for the purpose. Figure 102 shows one kind of crim ) 
mould. The leather used should be hard and sound. It is 
better to have it planed to a uniform thickness. It is put 
into the mould when thoroughly wet, and kept until 




Fig. ICO. Oil Press in Section. 




,}„}, 111)1, II}, ••,<}},} lllf^ 

111,11 I niii/ll ,111 , llllliit 



o ® I 







UBTAIL or 

HYDRAULIC. 
PACKING-A.. 



Fig. toi. Oil Press, Showing Hydraulic Packing. 



314 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

entirely dry and hard. It is then taken out and the centre 
cut out, leaving a ring of the shape shown in Figure loi. 
It is carefully trimmed to the correct size and wedged into 
the recess with blocks of hard wood, such as walnut or 
maple. Care must be taken to so mould the leather that the 
hair or grain side of the leather will come next to the ram, 
where the wear comes. A good packing should last several 
months ; but sometimes, on account of unseen defects in the 
leather, it may fail in a single day. A mill should always 
keep on hand one cr more packings, ready for emergencies. 
The blocks for wedging in the packing should be care- 
fully formed to exactly fill the space in the leather cup and 
hold it firmly in place. A good way to make the blocks is 
to build up a wood cylinder of straight staves, after the 
fashion of a barrel, 12 or 15 inches long. The staves are 
glued together and fastened endwise to the face plate of a 
lathe and turned inside and outside to the proper diameter. 
The end of cylinder is turned to the proper shape and a ring 
of the blocks cut cff. These are then split apart, and are 
ready for use. Several sets may thus be made and cut off 
and kept for future use. 

Hydraulic Pump. 

The pressure is applied to the presses by means of a 
hydraulic pump. Figure 103 shows the most common 
form. It is actuated by a steam cylinder, shown on the 
left. The spiral spring seen in the centre, serves to regulate 
the pressure, and the spiral s])ring at the right is the safety 
valve. 

This pump is usually about 8x1x10 (steam cylinder 8 
inches diameter, hydraulic plunger i inch diameter, with 10 
inches stroke). Thus it multiplies the steam pressure 64 
times, so that with 50 tc) 6o pounds steam pressure, on the 
pump, the hydraulic pressure is 3,200 to 3.840 pounds per 
square inch. The ratio between the two diameters is a very 
important matter; if it is too small there will not be suffi- 
cient pressure on the i:!re3ses ; if too large, by snme accident 





Fig. 102. Mold for Making Hydraulic Packing. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 317 

to the regulator, the pressure miglit become great enough to 
break the press. 

The fluid used by the h}-drauHc pump may be water, but 
the universal practice in oil mills is to use cotton seed oil. A 
small tank of oil is placed near the pump, from which it 
takes the suction. \Mien the press runs down, the 
hydraulic oil is expelled from the pipes and discharged into 
this tank, where it is used over and over. It is important 
that this oil be clean and free from grit and all sediment, 
otherwise it will clog or cut the \'ah-es. 

When crude oil is used for this purpose, the continued 
pressings seem to thicken it, so that the tanks must occa- 
sionally be cleaned out. It is a good plan to connect the 
hydraulic pump suction so that it will take oil about six 
inches above the bottom of the supply tank, so that the 
settlings are not so apt to get into the system. WHiere 
possible, it is the best plan to use refined oil for the purpose. 
This is not usually practicable in mills that do not refine 
their own oil, for the reason that on account of the various 
leakages, the tank must be frecjuently replenished. The 
system is so arranged that the leakages go in with the oil 
that is being produced, so that there is no final less, except 
such loss as there is in refining. 

When there are more than two presses, another pump is 
sometimes installed, for the purpose of taking up the slack 
in the presses, and putting up the pressure to about 300 
pounds per square inch, at which point the high pressure 
pump is switched on, either automatically or by hand. 
The low pressure pump is about 10x2^x10. 

There are several forms of hydraulic pumps that are 
driven by belts instead of direct steam, as above described. 
They require less power, but are not so convenient to oper- 
ate as the steam pumps. Nearly all modern oil mills use 
steam pumps. 



3l8 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

Accumulator. 

When there are four or more presses, an accumulator is 
sometimes used for the purpose of giving out quick pres- 
sure, and for equaHzing the work on the pumps, allowing 
them to run practically all the time, whether presses are 
going up or not. There are tw(3 kinds of accumulators, 
"pneumatic" and "dead weight." The pneumatic accu- 
mulator consists of a heavy piece of pipe about 12 inches 
in diameter and 6 feet high, so arranged that the pump 
will force oil into it and compress the air in its upper part, 
while the presses are not going up; when presses are ready, 
the compressed air will supply the pressure quickly and 
easily. The dead weight accumulator (two of which are 
shown in Fig. 104), consists of a weighted hydraulic 
plunger, which stores the pressure while presses are not 
needing it, and gives it out when required. 

Accumulators are mostly in use in connection with the 
low pressure pump, (capable of making about 300 pounds 
per square inch) ; but they are also used in connection with 
the high pressure system, (3,000 to 4,000 pounds per 
square inch), where there are six or more presses. Fig. 104 
shows a dead weight high pressure and low pressure accu- 
mulator, set up in the same frame. The high and low 
pressure pumps, used in connection wdth them are also 
shown. The low pressure accumulator is sometimes used 
to operate the "former," instead of direct steam pressure, 
but this is not the usual practice. 

With a modern system of pumps and piping, the accu- 
mulator is of no practical use. It was originally designed 
to put the presses up quick. With a free opening, it does 
it too quickly, giving the material in the press a hydraulic 
blow, destroying the press cloth. T(j prevent this, a choke- 
valve was inserted in the pressure pipe. It is plain that 
there is no use to force reserve oil under pressure into an 
accumulator, and then choke down the flow to a rate less 
than the capacity of the pump. 




Fig. 104. Hydraulic Accumulators. 







Fig. 105. Hydraulic Press Valves. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 325 

Press Valves. 

The oil, under pressure from the hydrauhc pumps or 
accumulators, is admitted to the press cylinder, and again 
discharged therefrom, when required, through a valve, 
generally known as the "change valve." Fig. 105 shows 
two forms of these valves. When pressure is to be applied 
to press, valve J is opened and K closed; when press is to 
be let down, valve J is closed, and K opened. 

Formerly oil mills used power pumps with two different 
size plungers. See Fig. 109. One set of plungers put up 
400 pounds pressure and the others 3,000 pounds pressure. 
The discharges were connected together to a pipe leading 
to a press. The low pressure was to put the ram up quick. 
Both plungers pumped into the same pipe. When the 
pressure reached the maximum of the low pressure plunger, 
a check valve between the two discharges was forced shut 
and the low pressure plunger discharged its oil out of a 
low pressure safety valve. When the high pressure (3,000 
pounds) was reached, these plungers discharged oil back 
into the tank through high pressure safety valves. 

On these power pumps, there were two low pressure 
plungers used for four presses, and four high pressure 
plungers — one for each press. 

When direct acting steam pumps were introduced, one 
pressure only (3,000 pounds) was provided for. It was 
thought the steam pump could be regulated in speed and 
pressure to fill all requirements. 

Afterwards it was thought best to have a low pressure 
pump in order to work the presses faster. 

Automatic Change Valve. 

In connection with this system of high and low pressures, 
with or without the accumulators, there was devised a sys- 
tem of automatic change valves to admit to the press the 
low pressure and automatically change over to the high 
pressure. 



326 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

Sometimes the automatic valves were left out, and the 
changes made with the regular press valve, by a man watch- 
ing the guage. 

Fig. 106 shows an automatic change valve in section, con- 
nected by piping to a regidar press valve shown above. 
The connecting pipe is shown broken to indicate that the 
automatic valve may be placed in any desired position 
with reference to the press valve. 

Low pressure pump is connected to the press valve at 
A. High pressure pump is connected to the automatic 
valve at G. 

To put pressure on press, close K, open J. 

Pressure is admitted from low pressure pump through A 
and adjacent check valve, through B and onward. 

At 300 pounds pressure, plunger D is pressed down 
strongly enough to open E. 

This admits high pressure through E, F, H, and onward. 

High pressure shuts low pressure check valve and holds 
D down. 

At H is a choke valve to admit the high pressure very 
gradually. This is to save press cloth and give the oil time 
to flow out of the meats in the press. 

Valves similar to this are still in use, but some late valves 
are verv much simplified in design. 




jQl 



K 







I -U 




1 



72^7ZAac 



/ \ 




Fig. ic6. Old Style Automatic Change Valve. 



328 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

Improved Automatic Change Valve, Fig. 107 — Lettering. 

Fig. 107 shows a cross section of an improved change 
valve, having fewer parts than any of the old forms. Both 
high and low pressure pumps are connected to this valve. 

A. — Pipe from low pressure pump. 

B. — Check over same. 

C. — Port to press pipe. 

D. — Pipe to press. 

E. — Pipe from high pressure pump. 

F. — Choke valve. 

G. — Stop valve, high pressure. 

H. — Stop valve, low pressure. 

J. — Crimp packing. 

K. — Leather gasket. 

When valve at press is first opened, low pressure riows 
through pipe A and check B, to press. 

At the same time, the high pressure ;:r.mp tcrces rii 
through the slot in choke valve F. (This slot is a mere 
notch filed across face of valve.) 

As oil passes through this choke valve its pressure be- 
comes as low as the pressure from low pressure pump. 
Thus both pumps contribute to hasten the ram, and when 
the slack of the press is taken up, the high pressure pump, 
continuing to put oil through the choke valve F, gradually 
raises the pressure to above that of the low jrressure pu"i;p. 
Then the check B closes, and the pressure continues to rise 
by the action of the high pressure pump alone. Th'? oboke 
valve makes this rise of pressure very gradual, and it is this 
regulation of the rise which saves the press cloth, atid 
makes a greater yield of oil from the presses. 




> 

c 
O 



< 



o 





N 





o 

l-H 



330 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

Fig. 1 08 shows a high and low pressure pump, piped up 
to three presses. More presses could be added if desired. 

A. — Low pressure pump. 

B. — High pressure pump. 

C. — Automatic change valve. 

D. — Side view of automatic change valve. 

E. H. — Press change valves. 

F. — Pipe to press. 

G. — Presses. 

K. — Discharge pipe to tank. 

The automatic change valve C (see Fig. 107), is i)ut 
near pumps. By this plan, only one lire of pipes is re- 
quired, to go from the automatic change \-alve to as many 
presses as one set of pumps will supply. 

Old Style Press. 

The foregoing system of pressing is of recent origin, hav- 
ing been first introduced in 1882. Previous to that time, 
and for several years thereafter, the cooked meats were put 
by hand into small bags, and folded up into hair mats, and 
put into the press boxes. This hair mat resembled a large, 
long book, opening at one end. This mat, with the bag of 
meats folded within, was about 5 inches thick, so that the 
press boxes had to be about 6 inches deep. Thus, a jjress 
could only hold five or six boxes, to keep the top box within 
reach of a man standing on the floor. The capacity of 
these presses was about one ton per box per day. The 
pressure required to press five or six cakes is as much as for 
twelve or fifteen, so that a mill had to provide much more 
machinery to get a given ca])acity than by the present 
system. 

The former was invented to make a preliminary pressing 
of the cooked meats, so they would not occupy so much 
room in the press. The cake delivered by the former is 
only about i^ inches thick. These are wrapped in cloth, 
put directly into the press boxes, withrut the use of any 




o 
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u 

CI. 



GO 

o 



33^ MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

mats, so that by this system about fifteen boxes may be 
arranged in a press of the same height as the old one. The 
old system was rapidly abandoned, so that by 1890, not 5 
per cent, of the mills were using it. At the present time^ 
there are a very few mills operating under the old system. 

Press Cloth. 

A large item of expense in the operation of an oil mill is 
the camels' hair press cloth. This expense may easily be 
made three or four times as great as it should be, if all the 
conditions are not just right. Proper cooking of the meats 
is the first consideration for the preservation of press cloth, 
(as well as for the quantity and quality of the < il). 

If the moisture and sap is not sufficiently cocked cut of 
the meats, the press cloth will be badly broken. The 
speed of the presses is another factor. There is no cbjec- 
tion to the rapid working of the press up to the point of 
about 500 pounds pressure per square inch on the ram, 
which is about the point when oil begins to flow freely. 
"When the pressure passes this point, the increase cf pres- 
sure and the movement of presses must be slow enough to 
let the oil escape through the press cloth without ruptur- 
ing it. 

When high pressure (3,500 pounds), alone is used, great 
care must be taken not to put the pressure on too rapidly. 
The limit as to maximum pressure is controlled by an 
automatic regulating valve on the pump, and to prevent 
putting the high pressure on too quickly the steam throttle 
in the supply pipe is so arranged as to admit steam very 
gradually behind the piston. 

This works fairly well with one to two presses, and if 
carefully looked after. For more than two presses, it is 
important to have two pressure pumps, one high pressure 
(3,500 pounds), and one low pressure (300 pounds), con- 
nected with each of the presses, through an additional 
change valve, as previously described. 

It is not impossible to carry to excess the effort to save 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 335 

press cloth (without regard to other matters). For ex- 
am])]e, the heaters or presses might be run on so slow a 
schedule, in the effort to save press cloth, that the loss of 
capacity of the mill would more than overbalance the sav- 
ing. Judgment must be used in finding the proper balance 
between straining the capacity of the mill, at the expense 
of the press cloth, and keeping dow-n the capacity for the 
purpose of saving it. 

When the pressure is released on the presses and they 
run down, the cakes remaining in the boxes are loosened 
up by a man behind the press with a short flat bar. The 
man in front takes out the cakes and piles them on the strip- 
ping table where another man strips off the press cloths 
and passes them back to be used again. If the meats have 
been sufficiently cooked, the cloths strip easily, and without 
damage. One cloth weighs about three pounds, and costs 
about $1.50. With good usage, it should stand 600 to 
700 pressings. The cost per ton of seed is 12 to 20 cents. 
Press cloths are mended on a stout sewing machine de- 
signed for the purpose. 

Disposition of Oil. 

As the oil flows from the presses it is caught in a shallow^ 
trough behind. This trough also incidentally catches a lot 
of meats and broken cake that fall around the presses. In 
order to entrap these in the trough and allow only the clear 
oil to run off, the oil outlet enters the trough near the tO":*. 
The oil runs off into a tank under the floor. Sometimes 
there is still another tank under the floor, into which the 
oil from the first tank runs out from a pipe near the top with 
the idea of leaving the sediment in the first tank. The 
oil is pumped out of the second tank to the storage tanks, 
located wherever convenient on the premises. All the above 
precautions still do not entirely free the oil from sediment, so 
that there will be much sediment found in the storage tanks. 
This sediment contains some water, and in warm weather, 
it will tend to sour and damage the oil. Hence it is not a 



336 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

good plan to allow crude oil to stand long, in summer, un- 
less it is pumped off into clean tanks, after standing awhile. 

If tanks are cleaned out often, before the settlings sour, 
the settlings may be mixed with the cooked meats and 
pressed again, so that if carefully attended to, there need not 
be much waste from settlings. 

Filtering crude oil through a special filter press is com- 
ing into limited use. This makes a nice, clear oil, which 
is somewhat more salable than unfiltered oil. But the pro- 
cess is a difficult one; the filter becomes so quickly clogged. 
Some form of gravity filter is the easiest to operate. Such 
a filter may be easily made by loosely filling a tank with 
straw, over a false perforated bottom. Where the oil mill 
has a refinery, the question of filtering is not of so much 
importance, because the sediment is precipitated in any 
case, when being refined. 

Cake Cracker. 

When the cakes leave the presses, they weigh twelve to 
fourteen pounds. They are stacked up to air-dry, for 
twelve to twenty-four hours. Sometimes the cakes are put 
in racks to dry. They are then put by hand into the cake 
cracker, which grinds them into pieces about the size of a 
grain of corn, so that they may be fed to a mill for still finer 
grinding. This machine must be very strong and durable 
to crack the very hard cakes. Fig. 1 10 shows one very good 
form of cake cracker. The crusher rolls are revolved in 
different directions, at a speed of about 300 revolutions. 
This machine will handle about one ton of cakes per hour, 
and will thus be sufficient for an oil mill of 70 to 75 tons 
(of seed) per day. 

Heal Mill. 

The cracked cake is taken to the mill for fine grinding. 
This may be an ordinary corn or wheat mill, but is prefer- 
ably a mill with chilled iron plates. Fig. 1 1 1 shows one 
form of iron plate mill, known as an "attrition mill." 






6 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 34I 

The plates revolve in opposite directions at a speed of about 
1,500 revolutions per minute. The engraving shows the 
outer casing removed for the purpose of changing the grind- 
ing plates. 

These mills are made in various sizes, from plates 20 
inches to 36 inches in diameter. The capacity ranges res- 
pectively from one to four tons of meal per hour, beirg 
suitable for oil mills of 30 to 100 tons (of seed) per day. 
Most mills arrange to grind in 12 hours all the cake that is 
produced in 24 hours. The above rating is based on this 
practice. 

The broken cake is fed to the mill at the top, and the fine 
meal is delivered under the bottom in the centre. 

It is possible to grind fine marketable meal with these 
mills, if they are not crowded too near their ultimate ca- 
pacity. The domestic demand for meal is not so critical about 
fineness as the export trade. It is usual in grinding meal 
for export trade by whatever process, to pass it through 
screens or bolting chests, to reduce it to a uniform grade^ 
and free it from hulls and lint. 

The attrition mill does its work largely by making the par- 
ticles of cake grind each other. Therefore it is important 
that the mill have enough feed as well as not too much. 
An attrition mill, when underfed, will do its wcrk as poorly 
as when overfed. 

Some mills have their screening machinery so arranged 
that the material from the cake cracker is first screened for 
the recovery of such fine meal as may be possible, before 
carrying it to the grinding mill. This is an economical 
process, as it relieves the mill of some duty. The large lumps 
of cake thrown into the revolving screen have a tendency 
to break the perforated metal or wire cloth, and on account 
of the additional repairs thus entailed, the process has not 
become popular. The screens should be covered with per- 
forations about I -1 6 to 1-20 inch diameter. The screening 
is, however, generally all done after the grinding. In some 
cases, mills grinding for a very critical market have screened 



34- MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

as fine as 1-32 inch. Tlie finer the screening,, the more ex- 
pensive the process, the more power and the more grinding" 
mills required, because the coarse particles which will 
not pass through the perforations, have to be reground 
again and again until they will pass through. 

For the domestic trade, some mills screen meal through 
3-32 perforations, mostly for removing lint cotton which 
has escaped the linters, and which is attached to the par- 
ticles of hull, still to be found in the meal. The finer the 
grinding the more digestible the meal is for stock food. 
The Germans lay great stress on this point. 

Most oil mills sack and weigh the meal by hand; but 
lately some of the larger mills are installing weighirg ma- 
chines, with great success. 

It is usual to install the cake-grinding machinery in the 
oil mill building, and to carry the meal to the meal storage 
house with a conveyor, and there sack and store it. 

A mill should have its meal storage separate from the 
seed storage; otherwise if seed are stored where meal has 
been, the lint on the seed becomes discolored by the yellow 
meal, and deteriorated in value. 



MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 



343 



TABLE XV. 

SHOWING AVERAGE SPEEDS, CAPACITIES AND 
POWER REQUIRED FOR VARIOUS MACHINES 
IN A COTTON SEED OIL MILL. 



MACHINE 

Sand and Boll Screen 

Linter 

Linter 

Huller 

Huller 

Separating Screen . . 

Rolls 

Rolls 

Heater 

Heater 

Cake Cracker .... 
Cake Cracker .... 

Meal Mill 

Meal Mill 

Hull Press ... 



Speed 



20 

35t:> 
350 
900 
900 
20 
180 
180 

105 
105 



300 

300 

1800 

1200 

400 



Capacity in Tons 
Seed in 24 Hours 



40 

5 

10 

40 
100 

40 

40 
100 

40 

100 

Capacity in Tons Pro- 
duct in 12 Hours 

25 
65 

25 
65 
40 



Horse 
Power 



3 
4 

3 
10 

25 

3 
10 

30 

8 

20 



5 
12 

25 
50 

5 



For shafting, add 20 per cent, to power. 

For conveyors and elevators, add 10 per cent, to power. 

In some cases in the foregoing table, the machines are 
given two ratings in capacity and power. In the case of 
the linters and hullers, the variations may be made by vary- 
ing the amount of material fed; in the case of the other 
machines, the variations are due to using different size 
machines for different capacities desired. 

The capacities and corresponding power required, may be 



344 MECHANICAL FEATURES AND PROCESSES. 

widely varied according to the way in which the machinery 
is forced, and according to the general skill in operating 
the mill as a whole. 

The usual allowance of power for various size oil mills 
is 2^ horse power per ton (of seed) capacity per day of 24 
hours. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Cotton Sccb ®il IReflnino. 

Crude cotton oil, in common with most crude vegetable 
oils, is an intricate mixture of chemical compounds, con- 
taining more or less impurities in mechanical suspension or 
solution. The chemical compounds are made up of nearly- 
neutral bodies formed by the combination of certain acids 
with certain other bodies having an affinity for the acids. 
The completeness of the chemical combination between these 
two classes of bodies constitute the principal element in the 
value of the oil. The chemical reactions in oils are so intri- 
cate that the easiest understanding of them may be obtained 
by analogy with more simple compounds, such as are f 3imed 
among inorganic substances. For example, sulphate of 
zinc is formed by the action of sulphuric acid upon zinc. 
If sufficient zinc is supplied for the quantity of acid present, 
there will result a perfectly neutral compound, which will 
show no acid reaction w^iatever ; if, however, the amount of 
zinc is deficient, the compound will contain "free acid," 
that is, acid which has not found anything with which to 
combine. It remains there ready to combine with anything 
for which it has an affinity, such as an alkali or a metal. 
If it is desired that the above compound shall be perfectly 
pure or neutral, the free acid must in some way be eLminated. 
If zinc is available the most obvious and economical way 
would be to add just enough zinc to neutralize the free acid, 
so that the compound would all be pure sulphate of zinc. 
But if zinc cannot be obtained, some other metal or alkali 
may be used to neutralize the free acid, provided such a sub- 
stitute will produce a sulphate which can be separated by pre- 
cipitation, or otherwise, from the sulphate of zinc desired. 

Cotton oil is roughly analogous to sulphate of zinc, sul- 
phuric acid being represented by a mixture of oleic, stearic 
and palmitic acids, and the metal by a vegetable substance 



346 COTTON SEED OIE REEINING. 

called glycerol. The above mentioned acids belong to a 
series known as "fatty acids." Upon the complete balancing 
of the fatty acids with the glycerol, depends the neutrality, 
and generally speaking, the commercial value of the oil. 
Fresh crude oil, made from sound seed, will contain fatty 
acids in excess of the neutral requirement to the extent of 
^ to I per cent, of the total weight. The chemical affinity 
between elements in cotton oil is very much weaker than in 
inorganic substances, and as crude oil grows older, more 
and more acid becomes dis-associated or "free." Likewise, 
when seed become heated, more acid in the contained oil be- 
comes free. This setting free of fatty acids is one of the 
causes producing what is known as rancidity in oils. 

Cotton oil is frequently alluded to as containing i to 2 
per cent, of fatty acid, when "free" fatty acid is meant, the 
entire amount of combined fatty acids in any cotton oil 
being about 70 per cent. The total contents of fatty acids in 
oil may be determined by completely saponifying the oil and 
treating the soap with weak sulphuric acid. Sulphuric acid 
has a greater affinity for glycerol than the fatty acids, and it 
displaces them and sets them all free, so they can be separated 
and weighed. Fatty acids do not present any of the ordi- 
nary features popularly ascribed to acids. Most of them 
are at ordinary temperatures solid, and they are not sour to 
the taste, and they do not indicate with litmus paper, as do 
inorganic acids. In chemical tests for fatty acids, the 
indicator used is phenolphthalein, a 3'ellow powder dissolved 
in alcohol. To determine the amount of free fatty acid in 
any given oil, measure a certain quantity of oil, add a few 
drops of the indicator and slowly add measured quantities 
of an alkali of known strength, violently shaking after each 
addition, until the indicator turns the whole solution a light 
pink. This shows that the acids have just been neutralized, 
and the percentage may be calculated from the amount of 
alkali used. These fatty acids have been mentioned in con- 
junction because they are chemically quite similar, and all 
the reactions are about the same. The quantities are usually 




* 




t 



>^ 






O 

o 

-4—' 

U 



o 



o 



iiMS^.. 



COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 349 

chemically computed as so much oleic acid. Some of their 
physical characteristics are different, as for instance, melting 
points and specific gravities. Oleic, stearic and palmitic 
acids when in combination, as in cotton oil, make compounds 
known respectively as olein, stearin and palmitin, which par- 
take of the characteristics of their respective acids. The 
first two are the principal constituents of cotton oil. 
Olein remains liquid at a lower temperature, and is lighter 
than stearin; hence, as the temperature is lowered, stearin 
begins to solidify and settle. This is the basis on which 
their separation is in practice accomplished, as in the manu- 
facture of winter oils. 

Crude cotton oil contains, besides free fatty acids, other 
impurities, such as water, cotton seed meal, mucilaginous 
matter, and a brown coloring matter, which latter appears 
to be inherent in the seed, and to occur in solution in the 
oil. Excepting the free acids and the coloring matter, these 
impurities may be removed bv filtration or bv settling; or 
they may be mostly prevented by care in manufacture. 

Water and mucilaginous matter (mostly albumen) occur 
naturally in cotton seed, and should be separated from the 
oil in process of manufacture. In these processes the water 
is mostly evaporated, while albumen is coagulated and to- 
gether with the remaining water, is supposed to b^ left in 
the residue or cake, when the oil is pressed out. Careless- 
ness in manufacture, or an effort to obtain the last bit of oil 
in the seed, or to rush the process through in the shortest 
time, will result in throwing these impurities into the oil. 
One of the methods for quickening the time in manufacture, 
is cooking with high pressure steam. It is necessarv to heat 
the kernels to about 220 degrees Fahrenheit. This may be 
accomplished by cooking for a long time with steam at 50 
pounds pressure (298 degrees F.), or for a short time with 
steam at 100 pounds (338 degrees F.). The former pro- 
duces the best oil ; the latter is the cheapest process. The 
same applies to the degree of hydraulic nressure in the 
Dresses. Even the coloring matter in the oil is lessened by 
lower pressure in both cases. 



350 COTTON SEED OII^ REElNING. 

In the development of modern crude oil mills, high pres- 
sure and quick processes having, from their commercial su- 
periority, become most common, it is required of the refiner 
to accept crude oil as it comes, and make the best refined pro- 
duct. The first requisite is to remove by filtration all the 
foreign matter in suspension, and, if the oil is to stand for 
any length of time before refining, remove, by settling and 
drawing off, any water that it may contain. If crude oil 
stands for several months without this preliminary atten- 
tion, the water and particles of meal and gum will sour in 
the bottom of the tank, and foul gases will rise through 
the body of the oil, and be partially absorbed. But if the oil 
is to be refined immediately after it is made, these impurities 
may be removed in the course of refining. 

Refining consists in removing free fatty acids, brown 
coloring matter and any other foreign matter that may exist 
in crude oil. This gives the product commonly referred to 
as "summer yellow oil." It should be a light straw color, 
free from sediment or water, and entirely neutral, (that is, 
free from either acid or alkali), and nearly tasteless. 
This condition is referred to in the trade generally as 
"prime," or, when with but the smallest possible taste, "but- 
ter oil." The trade definitions are not absolute, but depend 
upon the individual judgment of the sampler. Large sales 
should always be made by sample, rather than by definition. 
As most of the best cotton oil is finally intended for culinary 
use, it is best judged by tasting. Any oil that is the least 
offensive to a sensitive taste, no matter what its chemical 
purity, cannot pass as prime. 

Caustic soda is the principal chemical used in refining. It 
is received at the refinery in iron drums, weighing about 700 
pounds. The kind known as 74 per cent, is generally used. 
The purer it can be had, the better it refines. It is sold on 
a basis of 60 per cent. If it is 74 per cent., the actual cost 
is 14-60 more than the basis price. The soda is broken up 
and dissovled in an iron tank. Its solution generates con- 
siderable heat. Great care should be exercised in handling 



rr~^i 





id 








COTTON SEED Oil, REFlNIxXG. 353 

this substance, both while soHd, and while in solution, as it 
is very dangerous. A small drop of the concentrated solu- 
tion would make an angry burn on the flesh, or would put 
out an eye. The dissolving tank is usually located under the 
floor, so that it is not necessary to lift the heavy drum of 
soda to get it in the tank. When solution is perfect, it is 
pumped into the mixing tank located above the refining 
tank, where water is added to bring it to the required 
strength. Only the cleanest, purest water should be used, 
and the solution should be cool (not over 90 degrees) before 
used. The strength of the solution is measured with a 
hydrometer with Baume' scale. It is usual to have with the 
hydrometer, an iron or copper pot, holding about a gallon, 
and being deep enough to float the instrument. This is 
dipped full of the solution, and tested from time to time as 
the water is added. The desired strength and amount to 
be used must be separately determined for each different lot 
of crude oil. Theoretically, the amount of alkali required 
might be determined by finding the amount of free fatty acid 
present in any particular lot of crude oil under consideration, 
and calculating the amount of alkali necessary to neutralize 
it; but practically, this would not be sufficient for the pur- 
pose of refining, because it is found by experience that an ex- 
cess is required for the purpose of saponifying a small 
quantity of the oil after the free acid is neutralized. In sa- 
ponifying, it catches and carries to the bottom the particles 
of coloring matter and other floating impurities. For this 
reason the amount of required alkali is determined by making 
small refinings in bottles in a water bath, with varying 
amounts of alkali until a sample of refined oil is produced 
of the desired color and flavor. The percentage of alkali 
solution (of the strength used) for that particular lot is as- 
sumed to be the correct percentage for the entire tank. 
Within certain limits, the same results may be obtained by 
using a larger quantity of weak solution or a smaller quantity 
of strong solution, (the amount of actual caustic soda being 
about the same in each case). The varying of these ele- 



354 COTTON S£EI) on. RKFINING. 

ments to suit varying lots of crude oil gives scope to the 
skill of the refiner. Generally a weaker solution is used at 
the beginning of the cotton oil season, when only new oil is 
refined, a smaller quantity being also recjuired at that time. 
As the season advances, a stronger solution is used. With 
the best quality of new crude, an amount of alkali solution 
of 6 degrees Baume' strength, equal l)y measure to 4 p^r cent. 
of the oil to be refined, will be found sufficient ; while later in 
the season, it may require 15 degrees strength, and 10 per 
cent in quantity. Crude oil which is not prime ( technically 
"off oil") may require 15 degrees strength and 20 per cent. 
in quantity. A 700-pound drum of 74 per cent, caustic soda 
will make about 700 gallons of solution at 1 5 degrees 
Baume, or roughly, one gallon to the pound. 

An iron tank capable of holding about 130 barrels, and 
having a conical bottom, and some means of agitating the 
oil, and some means of heating it, is used for refining 100 
barrels of crude. This is considered about the best size, a 
larger quantity not being capable of sufficient agitation and 
heating, and a smaller quantity not being as profitable. Ths 
oil is measured and pumped in, and the agitation begins. 
Then a certain quantity of a solution of caustic soda of a 
certain strength is gradually delivered from the mixing 
tank over the top of the refining tank through a perforated 
pipe, which sprays it uniformly over the surface of the agi- 
tated oil. 

It is important that the solution of alkali put mto the oil 
be evenly distributed in small jets over the surface; other- 
wise, by reason of its considerably greater specific gravity, 
it might settle to the bottom of the tank, and thus fail 
to be thoroughly mixed with the oil, which is the 
essential point in the whole operation. After the agi- 
tation with cold alkali solution has proceeded for a 
sufficient time to insure perfect mixture of oil and al- 
kali, (say 30 to 40 minutes) the entire mass will have 
turned almost black. Heat is then applied and the tem- 
perature generally brought up to 120 or 130 degrees 



COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 355 

(never in good oil above 140), agitation still proceeding. 
The heating and agitating are kept up till quantities of 
dark brown flakes separate, and the n:ass has a curdled ap- 
pearance. The oil is then dipped up from time to time and 
filtered through filter paper into successive sample bottles, 
until one is finally reached which is satisfactory. Or if it 
is required to produce an oil equal to a given sample, the 
process may be stopped when the filtered sample from the 
tank equals that required. It is important to note, in this 
connection, that a sample kept as a guide for a long time, 
especially if in a light place, will grow lighter in color, on 
account of the bleaching action of light. The stearin will 
also settle out, and the sample will become unreliable. All 
samples should therefore be kept in a dark place, and should 
be frecjuently renewed by duplicates taken from fresh oil. 

W'h.en the process of refining is judged complete, the heat 
and agitation are discontinued, and the whole allowed to 
stand until the floating flakes settle with the excess of alkali. 
This should occur in al:»()Ut three hours, leaving bright yel- 
low oil in the upper part of the tank. The yellow oil should 
be drawn off through a large pipe ( say 6 inches in diam- 
eter), having its end projecting inside the tank with a flex- 
ible connection, which will enable the refiner to draw off 
the yellow oil to any given depth, this depth depending upon 
the thoroughness of settling, and the amount of sediment 
(which varies with the quality of the crude oil). The yel- 
low oil drawn from refining tank is delivered into a similar 
tank below, known as the "finishing tank," where it is 
heated and agitated again in about the same way, for the 
purpose of evaporating any entrained water. It is allowed 
to settle again, and is pumped off through a filter press into 
storage tanks or into barrels or tank cars for shipment. 
The filter press removes all sediment, and leaves the oil clear 
and brilliant. 

Some refiners now prefer not to use the filter press. They 
claim that by settling out the impurities by gravity, the oil is 
made clearer than by the forced filtration. This process 



356 COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 

necessarily requires more tank room in the refinery than 
when the filter press is used. 

If it has been necessary to use xevy strong alkali, or a 
large quantity of it, the finished oil may still taste of alkali, 
in which case it is necessary to wash it. This may l^e done in 
a special washing tank or in the finishing tank, after the 
sediment has been drawn out through the large gate valve at 
the lowest point of the conical tank bottom. Agitation is 
then started in the oil, and 2 to 6 per cent, of clean water put 
in through perforated pipes at the top ( the same kind as used 
for distributing alkali in the refining tank). It is some- 
times advantageous to use salt water for washing oil. It 
is made about 10 degrees Baume'. The purpose is primarily 
to make the washing water considerably heavier than the 
oil, so it will settle off more readily ; but it is also thought to 
add to the flavor of the oil. The temperature is brought 
up to about 100 degrees F,, and it is agitated for an hour. 
Heat and agitation is then stopped and the water allowed to 
settle for several hours. This water is drawn off at the bot- 
tom until cloudy oil appears. This cloudy oil contains 
some water, and is to be put into a small tank and heated and 
agitated, to drive off the water. The clear oil in the finish- 
ing tank still contains a little water, which must be drive i off 
by heat and agitation. The purpose of separating the small 
quantity of cloudy oil, containing most of the entrained 
water, is that its water may be more easily expelled than if 
left with the large lot. Great care is necessary in heating 
refined oil, especially when mixed with water. Its flavor is 
easily ruined by heat. It begins to decompose at about 140 
degrees F., and should therefore never exceed that tempera- 
ture, and be kept as much below that as will accomplish the 
ends required. 

First class crude oil in the early part of the season may, 
with sufficient skill, be refined at a temperature below 100 
degrees F. In working oil by this cold process, no addi- 
tional heat is applied in the finishing tank, but the water is 
driven off by agitation. The oil is required to stand quiet 



COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 357 

for ten or twelve hours, so that any remaining water may 
settle out. 

With a special view to working at lower temperature, it is 
well to make the finishing tank large in diameter and shal- 
low, thus presenting the maximum surface for evaporating 
the entrained water. 

But the most perfect way to remove the water at low tem- 
perature would be to use a finishing tank with an air tight 
cover, supplied with a vacuum pump. By this process, 
the water is vaporized and removed, and any other bad 
gases or odors are drawn out. 

In refining "ofif oils," which are net sold on a basis of 
flavor, high temperatures do not damage the quality. Off 
oil is harder to reduce to a light color than prime oil, and, as 
it is sold on a basis of color only, and, as higher tempera- 
tures produce brighter colors, it is frequently economical to 
heat these oils as high as i6o or 170 degrees F. 

The sediment left in the bottom of refining and finishing 
tanks is drawn off into a tank below and heated again to 
separate what oil may have gone down with the sediment. 
This good oil is skimmed from the top of tank, and the resi- 
due is drawn off into barrels with large bung holes, and is 
sold as "soap stock." 

Soap stock consists of saponified oil, water, free alkali and 
the dark brown coloring matter derived from crude oil. It 
is sold to soap makers on the basis of contained fatty acids. 
Fifty per cent, is the standard, but it usually runs about 
sixty. This is not "free fatty acid," but is in combination, 
and can be easily separated from combination for use in soap 
making. 

Some refineries utilize their own soap stock, and make 
crude soaps. Of late years, there has grown up a large de- 
mand for this product in wool scouring and other establish- 
ments in this country and in Europe. This adds consider- 
ably to the profits of a refinery. With sufficient skill, there 
is no limit to the extent to which this work may be carried, 
in the way of turning all the products into more and more 



35'^ COTTON si':i-;i) on. ki:fining. 

\'alual)le coinniodities. With the achnixtiire of other 
greases, the finest t^'rades cf lauiuh-y soa]) ma\- l)e made. A 
soap-makinj;- adjuiiet to the refinery is also useful in using up 
off grades of oil when their market ])rice becomes low. 

Prime crude oil, loses, in being refined to ])rime summer 
yellow, 5 to 12 per cent., according to age and general 
quality. Off oils may lose as luuch as 20 per cent. This 
loss is the difference between crude oil and the resulting re- 
fined oil, and the percentage is computed on the crude oil su ,- 
plied. The amount of soap stock deposited is of course 
greater than the loss in oil, 1)\- an amount ecpial to the alkali 
solution supplied. 

The loss in refining is entirely too much in e.xccss of the 
theoretical i)ossil)ility, and the process is nnich in need of 
improx-ement. A logical direction in which to proceed 
would seem to be toward some bleacliing jirocess, but so far. 
no known bleaching agent except sulphuric acid < r its e piiva- 
lent, has any effect on crude oil. It is obviously impossi- 
ble to use sulpluuMc acid in oil intended for culinary use. 

Summer wliite oil is made from suiumer yellow b\' agitat- 
ing and heating with fullers earth, and puiupi'ig the agitated 
mass through a filter press. This filter remo\'es the fullers 
earth, and delivers fairly white oil, depending for coin;- upon 
the quality of yellow^ oil used, and quality of fidlers earth, 
and skill of refiner. Most summer white oil has a taste de- 
rived from fullers earth, and this was formerly accepted as 
necessary. Now', however, white oil will not pass as prime, 
unless almost wa.ter white, and free from taste of fullers 
earth. In order to prodtice the color now required, it is 
necessary to refine the yellow oil to a specially liritrht yellow, 
and to use about 3 per cent., by volume, of fulhrs earth, 
whereas i to 2 per cent, was formerly considered suf- 
ficient. This large amount of fullers earth makes the 
taste more pronounced. Fullers earth is slightly acid to the 
taste. This acid is now' sometimes neutralized, and the 
taste destroyed, l)y the addition of i to 2 per cent, of carbon- 
ate of soda, or, as it is known in the trade, "soda ash." 



COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 359 

Only the better grades of soda ash should he used for this 
purpose. The oil, the fullers earth and the soda should all 
be entirely free from water or moisture. If the filter press 
is in good order, the white oil should be brilliant, and there 
should be no appreciable loss of the oil in the operation. 
This process, tlrough called bleaching, seems to b^ princi- 
pally a mechanical one, and is not well understood. 

Pulverized charcoal, especially animal charcoal (or bone 
black), would do this work of bleaching as well as fullers 
earth, and leave a better taste in the oil. Its use, however, 
would cause great risk of fire by spontaneous combustion, 
which is not attached to the use of fullers earth. 

Miners' oil is a white oil that is bleached from yellow oil 
bv the use of sulphuric acid. The demand for this oil is 
limited, and but few refineries are equipped for making it. 
The process is conducted in lead-lined tanks. The poorest 
quality of crude oil may be used for this purpose. It is first 
refined to a dark yellow, at a small loss, and sulphuric acid 
bleaches it with but small loss, to any degree of whiteness. 
This oil is used to mix with petroleum for use in miners' 
lamps. 

Winter oils are those which remain licpiid at 32 degrees, 
F. Ordinary refined oils (summer oils) begin to cloud at 
28 to 40 degrees, and become totally congealed at about 
30. This cloudiness is caused by congelation of stearin, 
which turns whiter as it becomes solid. Winter oils are 
made from summer oils by lowering the temperature just 
to the point where stearin congeals and olein remains liquid, 
and separating the two by filtration under i)ressure at that 
temperature. Winter oils, therefore are principally olein. 
Winter yellow is considered the best oil for use in cooking, 
as a substitute for lard. 

Olein does not decompose at high temperature as readily 
as stearin, so that in using it for frying, it does not give ofif 
the disagreeable smell so noticeable with summer oils. 

The equipment for producing winter oils is quite expen- 
sive, involving the construction of an ice plant, and, as the 



360 COTTON SEED OIE REFINING. 

demand for the products is limited, few refineries are equip- 
ped for making them. 

Every operation around the refinery should be conducted 
with the greatest cleanliness. Floors should be kept 
scoured, and all tanks and pipes should be kept clean, inside 
and outside. 

Refined oil, when shipped to lard refiners in the West, goes 
almost exclusively in tank cars. When for export, it is 
shipped in barrels. When empty tank cars are received, 
they should be cleaned inside by hand ; and then a steam pipe 
should be inserted and live steam blown in until entire tank 
is very hot. This melts down any rancid oil or lard that 
may adhere. It should then be thoroughly washed out with 
a hose. A man should go inside and scrub it. He should 
examine every pipe and joint to see that no leaks exist or are 
likely to develop on the next trip. A carload of oil is so val- 
uable that it pays to exercise every precaution to prevent a 
possibility of leakage. Most cars are provided with a se- 
ries of coils of pipe inside for the purpose of heating chilled 
oil with steam. The two ends of the pipe project through 
the tank, and, if there is no break in the pipe, no oil could 
leak out; but these pipes frequently jar loose on a journey, 
so that it is necessary to plug up or cap the ends before ship- 
ping. 

Barrels for the shipment of refined oils should be 
strictly new, made of well seasoned oak with six heavy iron 
hoops. The head hoops should not extend more than 1-8 
inch beyond end of staves, and should be so tight that they 
canno't be driven more than 1-8 inch below end of staves 
Barrels should weigh about 70 pounds and hold about 52 
gallons. Barrels should be made with the utmost care, 
from the dryest timber. Even the best barrels will dry out 
somewhat after being received at the refinery, so that the 
hoops must be driven tight just before using. After the 
hoops are driven, the barrels should be lined with silicate 
of soda, to prevent oil from saturating the wood. Silicate 
of soda is a soluble glass. It is generally received in barrels. 







o 

h- 1 



COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 363 

holding about 600 pounds. It is a heavy viscous hqr.id of 
a creamy color, soluble in water, and becoming hard and 
glassy when dry. It is put with an equal amount of water 
into a steam jacketed kettle, holding about 20 gallons. It is 
boiled, and about a gallon poured hot into each barrel. The 
bung hole is stopped with a long plug, the barrel is shaken 
in every direction until the hot liquid reaches every part of 
the inside. The gas generated will force the liquid through 
any worm holes or other defects in the barrel, so that they 
may be discovered and plugged up. The plug is pulled out 
of the bung hole, the surplus liquid poured out, and the bar- 
rel laid bung hole down, on an inclined trough, so the drip- 
pings may return to the kettle. In six hours the barrel is 
dry, and after being painted and weighed, is ready for use. 
It requires about a pound of commercial silicate for each 
barrel. Formerly, barrels were lined with glue by a process 
similar to the above; but at best, glue is likely in time to 
attain a bad smell. Again, if a ban el liiud with glue is. 
heated in any manner to melt out oil in cold weather, the 
glue will also melt and spoil the oil. For these reasons, in 
the best refineries, glue is no longer used for the purpose. 

Some refiners prefer paraffine wax for lining barrels. 
This is melted and applied in the same way as silicate of 
soda. No matter what lining is used, care sho.ld be taken 
not to put hot oil into the barrels. Oil should ne\'er be bar- 
reled warmer than 80 degrees, or in summer, never above 
the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. 

It requires the greatest cr.re to make i): rrels oil tight, 
even before they are shipped; and when they are load d and 
unloaded several times, hoops are likely to slip, or leaks de- 
velop from other causes. Thus it is imperative that not a 
single barrel should leave the refinery except in perfect 
order. If a barrel creaks while rolling on the floor, it is 
in bad order, and should be driven up or emptied. One 
leaky barrel in a cargo is likely to smear the whole lot and 
make the hoops greasy and easy to slip. In many fi)reign 
-countries, barrels are unloaded by sliding endwise down 



364 COTTON SEED OIL REFINING. 

skids. This will cause any loose hoops to slip. Two plans 
are in current use for holding hoops. One is to drive three 
small special tacks in front of each hoop, and the other to 
drive a centre-punch into each hoop at about three points, 
thus producing under the hoop a small projection which 
drives into the stave. Neither plan is free from objections; 
the tacks are apt to work loose and hurt the hands of the men 
who handle the barrels, while centre-punching makes the 
hoops very hard to tighten, in case it should become neces- 
sary. 

If second hand barrels are used in any case, they should be 
thoroughly cleaned out with live steam. A trough is pro- 
vided, across which the barrels may be laid, bung hole down. 
A series of -l-inch steam pipes should project up from the 
bottom of the trough, at the proper distance apart, to stick up 
a few inches into the barrels. Live steam should be blown 
into them for at least 15 minutes, more or less, according 
to what the barrels have contained. It is impossible by any 
ordinary means, to sufficiently clean barrels having been 
used for varnish, linseed oil, or crude petroleum. Before 
second hand barrels are filled, each one should be examined 
inside by the light of a candle attached to a wire and let 
down through the bung hole. 

A first class refinery for the production of summer oils, 
to refine 100 barrels at a time, could turn out 200 to 300 bar- 
rels per day. The building would be about 30x60, three 
stories high, with barrel shed 30x60, one story, built to have 
120 feet front on railroad siding, giving access to several 
cars at a time. The equipment would be as follows : 

One refining tank to hold 130 barrels, with conical bot- 
tom, with 6-inch gate valve in bottom and 6-inch outlet 
valve two feet above bottom of cylindrical part of tank. 
Through the side outlet is inserted a pipe with two elbows 
inside, arranged to let a connecting pipe be raised and 
lowered inside, so oil may be drawn from any height. In 
the bottom is arranged a series of steam pipes to heat the oil. 
It is preferably constructed of i-inch pipe bent in smooth 



COTTON SEED OIE REFINING. 365 

coils, making about four complete rounds, one above the 
other against the side, and also two coils on the bottom. 
It is frequently constructed in square coils with elbows or 
return bends. This arrangement is harder to clean, because 
soap stock will adhere and cake on the fittings. Steam is 
admitted to the coils through a pipe leading down the side 
from the top, where the admission valve is placed. The ex- 
haust may go out in the same way, with valve near the ad- 
mission valve. This is convenient, but not quite so good 
as to have the exhaust go out at the bottom, so that it may 
more perfectly drain condensed water from the coils. An 
ideal refining tank would be made with steam jacket over 
its entire surface; but this would be more expensive. There 
are two methods of producing agitation of oil, first by pad- 
dles, mounted on a vertical shaft standing in centre of tank, 
run by bevel gearing and a belt; second by a series of per- 
forated pipes in bottom of tank, through which air is 
pumped. Either method may produce a perfect agitation 
and perfect results. Paddles are considerably more trouble 
to keep in order, and present more surface inside the tank 
to become foul with soap stock; but there are refiners who 
claim that they make better oil with this system. The air 
method has the advantage of carrying away entrained water 
while passing through oil, especially in the later processes, 
wdiere oil is washed and dried. 

There are, besides the refining tank : 

I finishing tank, of same size and description as refining 
tank, except that side outlet is unnecessary. 

I bleaching tank for white oil, same as finishing tank. 

I 50-barrel tank, same as finishing tank, for sundry pur- 
poses. 

I soap stock tank holding 40 barrels, with conical bottom, 
and steam coil. 

I plain lo-barrel dissolving tank for alkali. 

I plain 30-barrel mixing tank for alkali. 

I plain 60-barrel tank for receiving crude oil which may 
arrive in barrels. 



366 COTTON SEED OIL REFINIXG. 

Storage tanks for crude and refined oils, to suit circum- 
stances, say 3 500-barrel crude oil tanks, and 3 500-barrel 
refined oil tanks. These may be located outside the refinery, 
about 50 feet away, under a shed; or the tanks themselves 
may be made with covers. They should be provided with 
steam coils to melt oil in winter. They should have man- 
holes, top and bottom, for access in cleaning. Both oil and 
steam pipes leading to the refinery should be well insulated 
and laid under ground. 

I 50- to loo-barrel elevated water tank. 

I 50-horse power steam boiler with accessories. 

I filter press with steam pump. 

I 6x4x6 steam pump for crude oil. 

I 6x4x6 steam pump for refined oil. 

I 6x4x6 steam pump for alkali. 

I 6x4x6 steam pump for water supply. 

T 7XIOXIO steam air i^ump, if air agitation is u-ed. 

If mechanical agitation is to be used, i 5-horsi power 
steam engine must be supplied. But in case an engine has 
to be supplied at all, it is bettter to have a large engine, say 
25 horse power, and substitute for steam pumps, power 
pumps throughout. In any case, power pumps ar2 more 
economical with steam, though steam pumps are more con- 
venient. If it is desired to use power pumps, air agitation 
may be supplied from a Root blower or other positive blast 
fan. 

The refining tank should be placed so its top is three feet 
above the third floor of the building ; the finishing tank and 
bleaching tank three feet above second floor ; and soap stock 
tank with its bottom three feet above first floor, and its top 
just under the refining tank. The alkali dissolving tank 
should be under the first floor, and the alkali mixing tank 
above the refining tank. The crude oil receiving tank 
should be under the first floor, so that barrels may be rolled 
over it for emptying oil. All the oil steam pumps may be 
located together in a pump room on the first floor, and all 
connected to two sets of manifolds, one for crude and one for 



COTTON SEED OIE REFINING. 367 

refined oil, so that any pump may pump oil from any tank — 
similar in operation to the switchboard of an electric plant. 
There should be two entire sets of pipes throughout, one for 
crude and one for refined oil, both sets being connected 
to all tanks, so that in emergency one tank may be substi- 
tuted for another. To avoid mistakes, crude oil pipes should 
be painted brown, and refined oil pipes yellow. At each 
turn in the pipes, plugged tees should be used instead of el- 
bows, so that they may be easily cleaned inside. 

The refining, finishing and bleaching tanks should be pro- 
vided with hoods commencing three feet above tank, and 
terminating in 16 inch galvanized pipes leading out of the 
building. These carry oiff the gases and steam. Taz bleach- 
ing tank should be in a separate room, to prevent the fine 
powdered fullers earth from flying over the refinery. 

Soap stock should be handled in a separate room from oil, 
so that the smells and general uncleanliness of the article 
may not contaminate the oil. 

If air agitation is used, the air supply must come from out- 
side the building, where it is clean and pure. In general, all 
operations must be conducted with the greatest regard for 
cleanliness. Refined cotton oil is a delicate article, and may 
be easily damaged by careless handling. 



Part III. 



CORRELATED 
INDUSTRIES. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Cattle ffccMno* 

Both cotton seed hulls and cotton seed meal are excellent 
food for cattle, sheep and goats. This fact has developed 
in the South a business in fattening cattle for the market, 
and has also very much stimulated the dairy business. 

The fattening of beef is done to a much larger extent in 
the Southwestern States than in those of the Southeast. 
The business is still extending throughout the entire cotton- 
growing States, and especially where conditions are already 
favorable to raising stock, as, for example, in the piedmont 
region. 

The business has been somewhat retarded by those who, 
learning of the value of cotton seed hulls and cotton seed 
meal as a feeding stuff for certain animals, went into the 
business of cattle feeding without due consideration of 
ordinary commercial economies. These over-zealous 
people paid, in many cases, too much for the cattle pur- 
chased, spent too much money on sheds and appliances, 
and bought cattle that were too small, of inferior breeds, or 
that had to be transported a long distance, and perhaps 
acclimated. 

There have been cases where cattle feeding was conducted 
on a spectacular basis, where pens and sheds were located 
more with relation to public display than to general con- 
venience and economy. In such cases great expense would 
be incurred in fitting up waterworks, consisting of boilers, 
pumping engine, piping, etc. The average practical 
farmer will understand that the time is not yet come when 
beef cattle may be kept profitably in stalls with baths at- 
tached. 

To make a success of fattening cattle for market or of 
conducting a dairy farm, there must be good judgment 
and economy in the purchase of stock and in the conduct 
of the business. 



372 CATTLE FEEDING. 

While cotton seed ir.eal and hulls may be fed exclusively 
for the purpose of fattening cattle in from 80 to 100 days, 
yet en the farm, this commercial material should be re- 
garded more as supplemental to the great variety of feed- 
ing stuffs that are naturally and cheaply produced on the 
farm. In the dair\' business, this mixing of the feeds is 
even n:ore important than in beef business. This improves 
both the quantity and the quality of the products, and keeps 
the cows in better health and spirits. 

The Southern planter always raised quantities of cattle 
feed, and previous to the Civil War, even when producing 
mostly cotton, gave considerable attention to cattle raising. 
After the War, however, the cattle industry declined in the 
cotton-growing States until the use of cotton seed nieal and 
hulls became well known as a cattle feed. It it now 
being more and more realized that these feedi ig stuffs are 
of prime importance, and this in turn stimulates the grow- 
ing of more farm feeding stuff's, in order to improve the 
cotton industry and produce lietter feed. Thus the busi- 
ness of feeding cattle on a large scale, both for beef and 
for dairy purposes has advanced from a very arduous 
condition to a comparatively easy, as well as profitable one. 

Beef Cattle 

In the Southwestern States, the business of fattening 
cattle for the beef markets on hulls and meal at the oil 
mills, or near them, has become standard, and is extensi\'ely 
done. It is probable that half a million animals are an- 
nually fattened on hulls and meal, and sent to market from 
the cotton States west of the Mississippi River. East of 
the river, the business is not so well established, but is 
growing. 

Meal is extensively used as a fertilizer, and hulls have also 
some little value as a fertilizer. \Mien fed to cattle, 80 to 
95 per cent, of the fertilizer values may be recovered, and 
this is done in m.any cases. The original fertilizing values 
in both meal and hulls which have been fed are nearlv all 




m 

G 

'-3 



o 

h-l 



CATTLE FEEDING. 375 

in the solid and liquid excrement — ai^proximatelv half being 
in the dung and half in the urine. When feeding cattle in 
large pens, the liquids are practically lost, and it is dif- 
ficult to collect the solid excrement and keep it in a man- 
ner to conserve the fertilizing values. In this way as ordi- 
narily done, there is saved only about 20 per cent, of the 
original fertilizing value of the meal and hulls. If, how- 
ever, the cattle are regularly moved from one large pen to 
another, and the ground promptly put into cultivation, it 
is possible to realize 80 to 95 per cent of the original ferti- 
lizing values. It may also be equally well done if the cattle 
are carefully stalled, so that by the use of litter and finely 
cut straw, the liquid may be absorbed and mixed with the 
solids. The tramping of the cattle helps to compact the 
manures and prevent loss of ammonia by evaporation. 

It is very easy to lose large amounts of ammonia by 
evaporation. This is the most expensive ingredient in any 
fertilizer, and no pains should be spared to accumulate it 
from all natural sources and to prevent its waste by evapo- 
ration or otherwise. It is profitable to mix acid phosphate 
with stable manure to preserve it. and at the same time to 
thus produce a valuable farm compost. The proper study 
of fertilizer values is of utmost importance to the profitable 
conduct of any kind of cattle feeding. 

In fattening cattle on cotton seed meal and hulls, the 
usual practice is to commence with a ration of hulls 18 
pounds, meal 3 pounds, (or 6 to i), and quickly increase 
to hulls 20 pounds, meal 4 pounds (5 to i), and toward 
the end of the period of 80 to 100 days, increase to hulls 
24 pounds, meal 6 pounds (4 to i). This kind of ration 
and quantity must be governed by circumstances. Some 
wald cattle from the prairies will not eat the mixture in any 
proportion whatever, and they have to be starved to it. 
Other cattle, mostly home-raised, like it from the first ; but 
they all learn to be very fond of it. Care must be taken 
not to make the ration too rich in meal at first, for the 
reason that this tends to make the animals "scour." 



376 CATTLE FEEDING. 

It is generally assumed that an average steer may be fat- 
tened in fine condition for the market on one ton of hulls 
and 400 pounds of meal. 

Figs. 115 and 116 show a form of shed which is some- 
times used for fattening steers on cotton seed meal and hulls. 
The steers are chained to stanchions, with their heads to- 
wards the centre alley or driveway, as shown. They have 
free access to a continuous trough, containing alternate 
compartments for water and feed. The water is supplied 
from the city waterworks or otherwise through float valves, 
so arranged that the troughs are always full of water. The 
feed is distributed from wagons, driven down the centre. 

Fig. 117 shows cattle being fed in open pens. Both 
methods have been successfully used; but the general 
opinion prevails that better results obtain when cattle are 
fed under some kind of shelter. Some successful feeders 
combine the two plans, and allow the cattle to roam in large 
pens, and to go under shelter tO' feed. Much depends upon 
the kind of cattle fed. Texas steers with wide dangerous 
horns are hard to manage in the open. When left loose 
they frequently fight among themselves with fatal results. If 
the ground for the pens is soft or not well drained, they are 
apt to mire up, and in many ways dissipate the energy in the 
feed, instead of storing it up as fat. 

The practice of de-horning is now universally recom- 
mended, to save room in stalling and shipping, and for 
general safety in handling. 

The following estimates show some average results from 
cattle feeding, with average market values, but under differ- 
ent conditions : 







rt 

u 






o 



CATTLE FEEDING. 379 

INDIFFERENT STEER.— INDIFFERENT HAND- 
LING. 

Cost of steer, 700 lbs @ 3 $21.00 

2,000 lbs hulls 4.00 

400 lbs meal 4.00 

Attendance 6.00 

$35.00 

Sale of fattened steer, 900 lbs @ 3^0 $31 -50 

Loss $3-5o 

This exhibits about an average condition in many parts 
of the Southeastern States, where the proper care is not 
given to the breed of animals nor to its handling before or 
during feeding. 

FAIR STEER.— FAIR PREVIOUS HANDLING. 

Cost of steer. 1,000 lbs @ 2^ $25.00 

2,000 lbs hulls 4-00 

400 lbs meal 4-oo 

Attendance and other expenses 6.00 

$39.00 

Sale of fattened steer, 1,300 lbs @ 3^ $45 -S^ 

Profit $6.50 

This exhibits about an average condition in Texas. 



1 



380 CATTLE FEEDING. 

GOOD STEER.— GOOD PREVIOUS HANDLING. 

Cost of steer, 1,200 lbs (a 3c $36.00 

2,400 lbs hulls 4-8> 

500 lbs meal S-oa 

Attendance and other expense 6.20 

$52.00 

Sale of fattened steer, 1,600 lbs @ 4c $64.00 

Profit $i2.oo 

In all these cases, no account is taken of the fertilizer 
values that may be practically recovered. This may ht 
estimated at an average of say $4 \)Qr steer. This credit 
would bring the example of unprofitable feeding up to a 
basis of a half dollar profit, besides fair compensation for 
wages. 

There have been special cases where "feeders" (those who 
fatten cattle for market), have made $20.00 and even higher 
profits per head; but all very high profits are speculative — 
the result of a rise in price of cattle between the time of 
purchase and sale. There are cases also, where from $10 
to $15 per head have been lost from the same cause. 

The above estimates all relate to the use of hulls and meal 
alone for feed. In the Soutliwest, this is the usual prac- 
tice, and is necessarily so, because at the time when the cat- 
tle are usually brought in from the prairie pastures, hulls 
and meal are the only feeding stuffs that are at the same 
time good enough and cheap enough to prepare beef for the 
market. In the Southeastern States, the conditions are very 
different. On mc^st of the farms there is considerable 
good pasture land ; and on the farms other feeding stuffs 
are available, such as corn shucks, straw, pea-vines, etc. If 
the Eastern farmer would make use of all these materials- 








en 



U. 



CATTLE FEEDING. 383 

and supplement them with hulls and meal, his results should 
be even better than those obtained by the Texas ranchman. 

If, in addition to this economical system of raising and 
feeding cattle, with home-raised food stuffs, supplemented 
by hulls and meal, the Southeastern farmer would improve 
the breed of his stock, there seems no room to doubt that a 
very large business would develop in the production of 
cattle and fattening them for market. Indeed, quite a busi- 
ness is already being successfully done by those who under- 
stand it. Thus, the production of cotton, and the raising 
of cattle are businesses that are supplemental each to the 
other: the cotton furnishing the hulls and meal as feeding 
stuffs for the growing cattle, while the cattle manure fur- 
nishes the food, as it were, for the growing cotton. 

All that is said of cattle feeding is more or less appli- 
cable to sheep feeding. 

Hulls and meal have been tried for horses and swine, but 
not with very satisfactory results. 

For working oxen, as, for example, at saw mills, there is 
no better or more economical feed than cotton seed hulls and 
meal. 

There is no reliable published data upon which to base 
estimates of the extent of the cattle and sheep business pre- 
vious to the Civil War. but those who have had intimate con- 
tact with the business seem to think that in the days of 
slavery the South was well adapted to cattle and sheep rais- 
ing, because the labor could be made efficient. Thus all of 
the attention necessary to the profitable conduct of this busi- 
ness in connection with cotton farming could be commanded. 
But with the emancipated negro labor, it is not possible to 
realize more than 80 per cent, efficiency of labor, and hence 
80 per cent, of the value of the farm feeding stuffs. Thus 
cotton seed meal and hulls must be brought in to supply this 
deficiency. But notwithstanding the enforced purchase of 
this extra material — or even with the purchase of the entire 
feeds — cattle may be raised with good profit in most of the 
cotton growing region. 



384 CATTLE PEEDING. 

The best breeds of beef are short-horns a::d Kerefords. 

Considerable interest has recently developed in the North- 
Avest in what is called "baby besf." A fine breed of beef 
calf is fed to fatten from an early age, then sold in a fatted 
condition at a younger age than usual. The lesult is said 
to be very tender and excellent beef at even less cost than by 
the old method of waiting one or two years before com- 
mencing to fatten. 

Dairy Cattle. 

Some experiments in feeding dair}' cattle on cotton seed 
meal and hulls have erroneously lead to conclusions adverse 
to the use of these materials for this purpose. These con- 
clusions were hastily reached in regions where other feeding 
stufifs were plentiful and cheap, and more agreeable at first 
to the taste of the cattle. This relates mostly to the use of 
cotton seed hulls. The feeding \alue of cotton seed meal 
has now become universally recognized, and it is known 
that it is one of the very best of feeds, price and results con- 
sidered. It is, of course, important for every dairyman, 
who owns a farm, to utilize all the home feeding stuffs; but 
in the South, it is generally most profitable to supplement 
them with the cotton seed products. In competing in the 
markets of the world for beef and dairy products, it seems 
evident that the South's opportunity lies in the intelligent 
use of the cotton seed meal and hulls. 




13 



X 



CATTLE FEEDING. 387 

The following estimates shew a series of results (all ex- 
pressed in round numbers) obtainable from cne milk cow, 
under various conditions : 

ILL BREEDING.— ILL FEEDING.— ILL CARE. 

Yield per year, milk 2,000 lbs 

Or butter 100 lbs 

This would be inferior butter, not bringing over 20 cents 
per pound, so that the income from butter would be $20. 
This condition may be said to represent the average of North 
Carolina. 

FAIR BREEDING.— FAIR FEEDING.— FAIR CARE. 

Yield per year, milk 4,000 lbs 

Or butter 200 lbs 

This butter would be better, and would sell fcr say 25 
cents per pound, making the income from butter $50. This 
condition about represents the average of New York State. 

SUPERIOR BREEDING.— SUPERIOR FEEDING.— 
SUPERIOR CARE. 

Yield per year, milk 10,000 lbs 

Or butter 500 lbs 

This butter would be worth about 30 cents per pound, 
making the income $150. 

This represents a good average condition as now existing 
in Germany. 

MAXIMUM BREEDING.— MAXIMUM FEEDING.— 
MAXIMUM CARE. 

Yield per year, milk i5>oo3 lbs 

Or butter 7:0 \h.^ 

This butter at 30 cents per pound would make the income 

$225. 



388 CATTLK FKEDIxNG. 

The above yields are not l)y any means impossible. They 
have even been excellecl. There is one record in Germany 
of a cow weighing i.ioo pounds, producing in one year 
17,500 pounds of milk, making 875 pounds of butter. 

The same conditions which conduce to large yields also 
tend to make better values for the products. The first es- 
sential is a good breed for the purpose, the next is proper 
feed, and the next, but by no means the least important, is 
proper and intelligent care of the animal. This includes 
proper housing, kind treatment, and an abundant supply of 
pure water. 

The best breed for yield of butter is the Jersey or the 
Guernsey ; the best for quantity of milk is the Holstein or 
Ayrshire. These have been specially bred for the purposes 
mentioned, and may generally be relied ujxin for these re- 
spective purpose. 

Profitable Yield. 

The question as to what is a profitable and what is an un- 
profitable yield of milk or butter for dairy cows, is neces- 
sarily one that involves many factors and these factors all 
vary. The best that can be done in giving a definite answer 
is to give figures based upon average conditions. The fol- 
lowing figures give what may be considered average profit- 
table yields in the localities stated : 

In North Carolina, 3,000 pounds milk or 150 pounds but- 
ter per year. 

In New York State, 4,000 pounds milk or 200 pounds but- 
ter per year. 

In Germany, 5,000 pounds milk or 250 pounds butter per 
year. 

If these figures are correct, then the return from the cat- 
tle in North Carolina now is not profitable. 

With cotton seed hulls and meal as feeding stuffs supple- 
mented by present farm products, and with good breeding 
and good care, the German yields might be equaled. 

If this could be done, then the dairv business in North 





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CATTLE FEEDING. 397 

Carolina, which is, as a rule, now unprofitable, might be 
made superior to that of New York State as now conducted, 
and equal to that of Germany as now conducted. 

What is here said about the dairy business in North Caro- 
lina is equally applicable to most of the other cotton-grow- 
ing States. This entire discussion is based upon the idea 
that cotton seed meal and hulls make in nearly all parts of 
the cotton-growing States ample opportunity for profitable 
business in raising and fattening beef and in producing milk 
and butter. 

The climate in the cotton-growing area is very favorable 
to all forms of cattle business. There must always be a 
certain amount of warmth supplied to cattle. If the 
weather is cold, the warmth must be supplied by food, and 
such food as is adapted to the purpose. 

Cow Lot Manure. 

In all dealings with cattle, whether keeping them for beef 
or for dairy products, provision should be made to utilize 
the manure. Besides the fertilizing values in cow manure 
for increasing production, this particular manure has in some 
way, not understood, the power of improving the length, 
strength and fineness of the staple of cotton. 

It is said that in the production of mushrooms, even when 
all other conditions are favorable, when leaf mould and horss 
manure is used, the result is indifferent; when using cattle 
manure, the result is still indifferent; but when the tw^o are 
mixed, the results in prolific yields, is little less than wonder- 
ful. So, in some way, not fully understood, cattle manure, 
when mixed with other manures improves the quality of the 
cotton fibres produced. The use of commercial or chemi- 
cal fertilizers alone, as compared with the use of barn-yard 
manures, (either alone or in combination), tends in some 
measure to degenerate — or at least not to improve — ths qual- 
ity of the cotton crop. Chemical fertilizers are clean, and 
therefore more agreeable to handle. They also contain con- 



398 CATTLE FEEDING. 

centrated plant food, and in many cases are necessary to get 
large yields, and maintain soil fertility. 

The development o{ the business of making commercial 
fertilizers has been of immense advantage to the cotton pro- 
ducing interests ; but it has also been productive of some 
harm in making the farmers less careful about saving and 
utilizing home manures. It is manifestly extravagant to 
buy commercial fertilizers when heme manures, might, by 
a little labor, be used for the same result; and this is accen- 
tuated when it is considered that the cotton produced by 
home manures tends toward better qualities. 

It is safe to say that the indefinite use of commercial ferti- 
lizers would not permanently increase, or even maintain soil 
fertility. There is an old adage : 

"Lime and marl without manure, 

Will make both farm and farmer poor." 

This applies ecpally as well to any kind of artificial fertili- 
zer. This view of the matter is not antagonistic to the 
makers of chemical fertilizers. The prosperous farmer will 
always want more fertilizers to mix with his home manures 
than the thriftless farmer will wdio relies entirely on com- 
mercial fertilizers. 

Because of these relations of the cow lot manure to the 
other fertilizers used for the production of cotton the de- 
velopment of those businesses into which cattle enter — the 
dairy and beef interests — become at the same time easier 
and more important. 

The raising and handling of sheep would seem to be 
ecjually easy, attractive and profitable, except for the fact 
that in the rural districts, where cotton is produced, a dog 
seems to be more popular than a sheep. 

Considering, ( i ) the values that have been found in cot- 
ton seed, (2) the application of some of the^e values as stock 
feed in producing beef and dairy products, (3) the values 
of the result and manures in producing more cotton, better 
cotton and more seed, it becomes apparent that there 's 




{ y'a/-^] {c/o//?\ [hi/// ,5 



^fye//er 



Fig. 123. A Cycle of Production, Consumption and Land 

Rest(^ration. 



400 CATTLE FEEDING. 

a cycle of operations, out of which come valuable products 
for the markets — human food, clothing and shelter — while 
all residual products contribute to continue and even ex- 
tend the cycle of operations. Based upon these ideas, there 
has already been built at one point in the South a compre- 
hensive plant providing for the following operations : 

1. Ginning cotton. 

2. Operating an oil mill. 

3. Operating a cotton mill. 

4. Mixing fertilizers. 

5. Feeding cattle. 

With the addition of a cotton farm, the above plant would 
complete the whole cycle of operations. 

In this cycle of operations, a number of products are be- 
ing constantly drawn out for the uses of humanity, and the 
drafts thus made upon the soil replaced by products 
brought from the mines or other sources, and prepared 
chemically to take the place of the withdrawn elements. 

The failure to save the residual manures, when these mar- 
ket products are consumed, makes the necessity for the 
drawing on the outside sources (chemical fertilizers) much 
greater than it should be. 

The diagram. Fig. 123, exhibits the working of this cycle. 

Under a proper system of agriculture it should not be 
necessary to rely to such a great extent upon the mines 
and chemical works for restoring fertility to the soils, in re- 
turn for the drafts made upon it by humanity. On the aver- 
age farm, these drafts could be returned to the soil many 
fold if full attention is paid to systems of rotation, including 
leguminous crops, and full attention to the conservation of 
decomposing vegetation in fields and wooded lands. Large 
amounts of this are now annually wasted. The stable and 
barn yard manures that are now allowed to dissipate could 
be made to yield large returns, especially when used in con- 
junction with commercial fertilizers to increase their ag- 
ricultural values. Tlie question of how much commercial! 
fertilizer to use in connection with the home manures is one 



CATTLE FEEDING. 4OI 

of costs and values of products. Every farmer ought to 
save more home manure than he now does, and ought alsa to 
buy more fertihzer than he usually does. The average cot- 
ton farmer has time and to spare to do the first ; the money 
he would put into the second would, in combination with 
the first, make ample return in more yield and finer quality 
than ever before. 

It is said that the civilization of any community may be 
measured by the consumption of sulphuric acid. Meas- 
ured by this standard, the southeastern United States 
would probably surpass any other part of the world. That 
this is not true is well known. Unusual activity in the pro- 
duction of cotton, and the extension of the fertilizer business 
to keep pace with it, has caused an abnormal production of 
sulphuric acid in this section. If other conditions of civili- 
zation could be brought up to the level of the consumption 
of this commodity, then the above measure would be correct. 
This would involve the preservation and use cf home 
manures to an extent proportional to the commercial ferti- 
lizers, and would involve the growth of other manufactures 
and arts up to the point of normally consuming the sulphu- 
ric acid now manufactured. \\'hen these proportions shall 
have been adjusted, then it may be said that the civilization 
of the Southern States of America may be measured by their 
consumption of sulphuric acid. 

Domestic Use of Meal and Hulls Outside the Cotton Grow- 
ing States. 

The values in cotton seed meal as a stock feed sre 
sufficient to warrant its shipment to, and profitable use in any 
part of the United States. Great quantities go to many 
parts of the United States outside of the cotton-growing 
area, and its value has become well known, especially in Xew 
England and other Atlantic coast States. 

The hull cannot be profitably sent so far, but many of the 
oil mills prepare a food made up of abcut 5-6ths hulls and 
I -6th meal, and find extensive sale for this, in sacks, in many 



402 CATTLE FEEDING. 

of the Northern States. The hulls alone are put up in com- 
pressed bales, and in this form are extensively shipped 
to adjacent Northern States. 

Exports. 

The cotton seed meal is very extensively exported f^r use 
as cattle feed. Germany takes very large qua tities, in the 
shape of finely ground meal. Most of what formerly went to 
England was in form of the cake, as it comes from the prcss. 
This cake was cracked with a hammer or other suitable in- 
strument, and the broken pieces fed to the stock. Now the 
demand is for more meal and less cake. Those familiar with 
the subject consider the ground meal much the best form for 
feeding. 

The hulls are too cheap and bulky to export. 

Assuming that by the use of cotton seed hulls and meal, a 
large and profitable business in beef and dairy cattle can be 
developed, there will naturally ccnie about other businesses 
supplementary to these, as for example, in hides, horns, 
tallow, glue, lard, candles, etc. 

The values of lands would increase, because of demand 
for pasturage, and of increased crops made by the full use of 
stable and cow lot manure. Oil mills could be more profit- 
ably operated, because of the better and nearer markets for 
their products in hulls and meal. 

The agricultural experiment stations of the various cotton 
growing and some other States, have very full data in the 
shape of bulletins relating to the digestibility of hulls and 
meal, and to the experimental and theoretical values of these 
for fattening beef and for the production of milk and butter. 
These are sent free to any one who may wish to pursue the 
subject in detail. 

In the appendix of this book may be found some tables 
and other literature on this subject, which have been com- 
piled from these and other sources. 



CATTLK FEEDING. 403 

Splenetic or Texas Fever. 

Without undertaking to enter into any general discussion 
of diseases of cattle, it would seem desirable to call attention 
to Texas fever, with a synopsis of the government regula- 
tions in the matter of quarantine against this disease. 

In shipping cattle from the Southern States to Northern 
markets, across the quarantine line, all quarantine regula- 
tions must be complied with. This quarantine line runs 
across the entire United States, reaching at some points well 
to the southward, and at others far to the north. The map 
in the back of this book shows, approximately, the present 
location of this line. The location of the line is frequently 
changed, and hence this map must not be relied upon to rep- 
resent the exact line at all times. The United States Bureau 
of Animal Industry issues new maps from time to time, to- 
gether with bulletins, containing revised rules for the trans- 
portation of cattle north across the line. 

The present rules allow cattle to be shipped North across 
the line only for immediate slaughter, and even then only 
under certain regulations, about as follows : 

All cars or boats carrying such cattle shall bear printed 
placards with letters i| inches high, stating that the cars or 
boats contain Southern cattle. All conductors' way bills, 
etc., must have the same information plainly stamped across 
the face. No boat carrying Southern cattle shall receive on 
board any other cattle at the same time. 

No boat shall receive cattle to transport North across the 
line to any point not provided with proper pens, etc., to 
receive them without having to pass over a public highway, 
unless permission for same is given by the local authorities. 

All cars and boats used for transportation, after unloading 
must be cleaned and disinfected with lime and carbolic acid. 

When cattle are unloaded to be fed or watered in transit, 
they must be put in pens or yards set apart for infected 
cattle. . No other cattle are to be admitted to these pens while 
so occupied. Pens are to be cleaned and disinfected with 
lime and carbolic acid, after the cattle have been moved. The 
removed litter and manure is also to be disinfected. 



CHAPTER XV. 



jTcrtiliscrs, 



Before agriculture became anything of a science in the 
Southern United Slates, the cotton crop was infinitely 
less important than at the present day. The Agricultu- 
ral Department of the National Government knew noth- 
ing of the subject of cotton culture, and the separate 
States had not then established experiment stations. 

Nothing was known in a general and systematic way of 
the theory of cotton planting. Each planter proceeded ac- 
cording to individual ideas, based on personal experience. 
Fertilizing cotton w..s done in a desultory way, with the 
natural materials at hand, principally stable manure. As 
this material was ent:rely inadequate to the requirements, 
and as commercial fertilizers were then unknown, the cot- 
ton plant was never sufftciently nourished. In about 
1850, Peruvian guano was first brought to notice as a fer- 
tilizer. This is a natural guano, formed by the deposits 
of birds on South American Islands. It was at that time 
enormously expensiv :, compared with the present intrin- 
sic value of fertiHze.-s. It was soon discovered that the 
use of this guano increased the yield of cotton about 100 
per cent., and, as the price of cotton was then relatively 
high, its use was attended wnth gieat profit, and it at- 
tained extensive popularity for all other agriculture, as 
well as for cotton planting. This soon exhausted the 
world's available supply, and chemists began to experi- 
ment with a view of producing substitutes. They dis- 
covered that phosphoric acid was the principal ingredient 
in this manure. At the same time it was experimentally 
discovered in the course of scientific investigation on the 
farm, that phosphoric acid was the principal requirement 
of the cotton plant; but it was also found that there were 
necessary to the proper nourishment of the cotton plant, 
nitrogen and potash; hence there was soon developed an 



406 FERTILIZERS. 

immense industry In producing what was first called "ar- 
tificial fertilizers," all embracing in a more or less empiri- 
cal proportion, these three ingredients. 

Of late years, this subject has been reduced to a mathe- 
matical basis, and the approximate amount of each ingre- 
dient necessary in the production of the cotton plant Ins 
been accurately tabulated. The method of disco\^ering 
these chemicals is obviously (i) to determine what chem- 
icals are contained in the plant itself; (2) from what source 
these chemicals may be derived, that is: whether from air, 
moisture or earth; oiid, since air and moisture, as well 
as some other properties in the earth are supplied by na- 
ture; (3) to determine what earth constituents are lacking 
in certain localities. The determination of the first mat- 
ter is of universal amplication; the second depends upon 
local conditions, whiie the third is a matter principally for 
intelHsrent deduction. 



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40^ FERTILIZERS. 

Table XVI. exhibits the respective amounts of phos- 
phoric acid, nitrogen and potash coj.lained in the several 
parts of 10,000 cotton plants which produced 300 pounds 
of lint cotton per acre, which may be taken as a fair aver- 
age crop, in the Southeastern United States. This bears 
no exact ratio to tliC amount of these chemicals which 
should be added to the soil in any particular locaHty, from 
the fact that nitrogen is largely derived from the air, and 
that the other elements are contained in a greater or less 
degree in all soils. Furthermore, the application of any 
given amount of these chemicals to any particular soil, 
is no guarantee thai the cotton plant will take them up 
from that soil in any prejudged proportion. The table 
is valuable, however, as a basis, and also as exhibiting 
the amount of fertilizers consumed by each particular di- 
vision of the plant. It exhibits, for instance, that lint 
cotton, the principal commercial article for which the 
plant is grown, actually removes from the soil only 3 per 
cent, of the total c^mount required by the plant. The 
seed, which is also in most localities a commercial pro- 
duct, removes 35 per cent. This shows that it is neces- 
sary in estimating the commercial value of the seed to take 
into account the money value of the fertilizing chemi- 
cals which it carries with it. It also prompts the inquiry, 
as to what portion of this seed actually covers its com- 
mercial value, and whether that particular portion in- 
volves any of the fertilizing chemicals. The principal 
value of seed to commerce is in its oil, which chemical an- 
alysis shows does net contain the fertilizing chemicals. 
It therefore follows, that in the economv of cotton plant- 
ing, if seed is removed from the soil, arrangements should 
be made to return the fertilizing elements thereof. It 
transpires that in the manufacture of cotton seed oil, the 
fertilizing residue is preserved in cotton seed m°al. and is 
made available for return to the farm. Its principal value 
is in its nitrogen; and, as will be hereafter shown, its most 
economical consumption as a fertilizer is in connection with 
other ingredients, supplying the other two requisite constitr- 
ents for fertilizers. 



FHRTILIZERS. 409 

TABLE Xv^II. 

AMOUNT OF FERTILIZING ELEMENTS NECES- 
SARY TO BE SUPPLIED TO AVERAGE SOIL IN 
SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES FOR PRO- 
DUCTION OF EACH 300 POUNDS OF LINT 
COTTON PER ACRE. 

Pounds per acre 

Phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5) 50 

Nitrogen (N) 20 

Potash (K 2 O) 15 

Rotation and Diversification of Crops. 

Farming is a business having many different phases, cap- 
able of correllation, each with all the others. In most prac- 
tice, the rotation of crops complementary to each other, the 
production of crops and live stock in a way to make them 
complementary to each other, and even of bringing the farm 
in its crop and live stock products into co-relation with the 
local manufacturing conditions are neglected.* 

While cotton may be successfully grown indefinitely on 
the same piece of land, this is only possible by the annual 
application of some form of fertilizer. In order to make the 
best and cheapest restoration of the land there should be 
rotation of the cotton with grain, considerable stock with 
pasturage and leguminous crops. 

In the ordinary use of commercial fertilizers on land for 
cotton, the phosphoric acid tends to accumulate in the soil, 
while the nitrogen tends to diminish. 

A grain crop following a cotton crop utilizes plant food 
in the soil to best advantage: (i) It makes pasture, (2) it 
fills in with a good crop what would otherwise be a gap in 
the rotation. 



* See Cotton Mill, Commercial Features, Chap XV. "Farm and Factory." 



4IO FERTILIZERS. 

Cowpeas and clover draw nitrogen from ths air, storing 
it on an average lo per cent, in the roots, 40 per cent, in the 
stems and leaves, and 50 per cent, in the peas. The pea hulls 
contain practically no nitrogen. When a pea crop is raised, 
the most value is obtained : ( i ) By cutting the crop for hay, 
feeding it to cattle and other stock and returning the stock 
manure to the land, or by pasturing stock on it ; (2) by turn- 
ing the whole crop under. If the peas are picked off and the 
plant turned under, about half the nitrogen value of the crop 
is given to the land. 

If the crop is mowed and cured for hay, and the roots and 
residual stems and leaves plowed under, about 25 per cent, 
of the nitrogen value of the crop is returned to the land. 

Many farmers ha\-e an idea that nitrogen taken from the 
air is stored by leguminous crops in the roots, and that 
the crop may be cut and cured for forage without sacrifice 
of the nitrogen value of the crop to the land. This is an 
error. Leguminous crops furnish nitrogen to the soil very 
much cheaper than it can be procured in any other way. It 
is practically the only way a cotton farmer can afford to put 
on enough nitrogen to make profitable crops and keep up his 
land. Most farmers know this, but don't practice it. Whe i 
the practice does become general, a revolution in the produc- 
tion of cotton will have been accomplished. 

Soil Requirements- 
Table XVII. exhibits from experimental data, the 
actual amounts of fertilizing chemicals which should be 
applied to the soils above alluded to, for the maximum re- 
sults in the production of the afore-mentioned 300 pounds 
of lint per acre. 

This table is based on a soil which, from its nature, 
could not profitably yield more than the above amount. 
The table, however, may be used in the same proportions 
for soils more productive than this. Just the maximum 
yield of lint cotton, which it may be profitable to force 
from a given area, must be determined by actual experi- 



FERTILIZERS. 411 

merit on the particular soil in question. If it is found 
that double the stated yield can be profitably forced, then 
the quantities shown in Table XVII. must be doubled to 
produce that yield at the minimum cost. But even the 
use of this table must be tempered with judgment, as to 
the general character of the soil, both chemically and 
physically. It has been found by experiment that the 
three ingredients, +0 produce the best results, must be ap- 
plied in a mixture with proper proportions of each. Any 
■one of the three may be of benefit to the cotton plant if 
applied separately, but the three applied as a mixture will 
produce a result greater than the sum of the results from 
each of the three applied separately. 

Having determined that certain amounts of phosphoric 
acid, nitrogen and potash are essential in the complete 
cotton fertilizer, the question arises as to the best sources 
from which they m_ay be procured. This question is 
easily answered in the United States by the various com- 
peting fertilizer maruifacturers, all of whom manufacture 
in available forms, fertilizers containing the ingredients in 
proper proportions. Under the care exercised by Stats 
boards of control, and agricultural stations, the farmer can- 
not go far wrong in accepting the commercial fertilizers 
offered for sale in his own State. It may be well, however, 
to call attention to the fact that there is some difference in 
the agricultural value of the fertilizing chemicals, due to ths 
source from which they are derived. The analyses as pub- 
lished and branded on the sacks are always careful to differ- 
entiate the soluble from insoluble phosphoric acid, so that ii 
this respect, it is easy to select the best. All forms of nitro- 
gen in commercial fertilizers are soluble, and he ice no differ- 
ence has been specified in the standard analysis. But there 
are differences in the rapidity of solution, among the various 
forms in which nitrogen is supplied. For this reason, it is 
important for the farmer to ascertain what form of nitrogen 
he is buying. For example, the nitrogen from nitrate of 
5oda is so quickly soluble that it leaches away bef^Te the 



412 FERTILIZERS. 

cotton plant can utilize it all. This is a valuable form of 
nitrogen for some plants, such as early vegetables, where 
quick growth is desirable, but is not recommended for cotton. 
Sulphate of ammonia and dried blood are good sources of 
nitrogen, though some think not so good as cotton seed meal, 
which is less readily soluble, and hence is good to give out 
the nitrogen as the growing plant requires it. Tankage is 
variable in composition, and solubility, but is apt to be too 
slow of solution. 



FERTILIZERS. 



4^3 



TABLE XVIII. 

COMMERCIAL SOURCE OF THE FERTILIZING 
CHEMICALS, SHOWING AVERAGE PER CENT. 
OF ACTIVE PRINCIPLE IN EACH. 





Phosphoric 


Nitrogen 


Potash 


Equivalent 




Acid per cent. 


per cent. 


per cent 


per cent. 


Acid Phosphate . . . 


15.00 








Boueblack 


18.00 








Sulphate Ammonia . 




20.50 




24.89 


Nitrate Soda .... 




15-75 




19.12 


Cotton Seed Meal . . 


2-75 


7.00 


1-75 


850 


Cotton Seed .... 


1.30 


2.50 


I 20 


304 


Stable Manure , . . 


•25 


.50 


■50 


.61 


Cotton Hull Ashes . 


9.00 




22.50 




Wood Ashes .... 


1-75 




6 00 




Muriate Potash . . . 






50.00 




Sulphate Potash . . 






50.00 




Kainit 






12.00 





Table XVIII. exhibits these sources, together with the per 
centage possessed by each. The manner of building up 
a fertilizer in any given ratio may be easily computed from 
this table by ^electing the most available sources in any 
particular locality. The following examples will exhibit 
more clearly the utility of this table. 



4M FERTILIZERS. 

flaking Fertilizers. 

To produce a fertilizer containing in a given gross 
weight : 

Phosphoric acid 50 lbs. 

Nitrogen 20 lbs 

Potash 15 lbs. 



EXAMl-LE I. 

Acid phosphate 333 lbs. (x. .15=50 lbs.) 

Sulphate ammonia 98 lbs. (x. 20.50=20 lbs.) 

Muriate potash 30 lbs. (x. .50=15 lbs.) 



Weight of mixture 461 lbs. 

Entire mixture would analyze: 

Phosphoric acid 11. 8 per cent 

Nitrogen (equivalent ammonia 5.2) 4.3 per cent 

Potash 3-3 per ^ent 



EXAMPLE 2 

Acid phosphate 281 lbs 

Cotton seed meal 286 lbs 

Kainit 97 lbs 

Weight of mixture 664 lbs 

Entire jnixture would analyze: 

Phosphoric acid 7-5 P^i" cent 

Nitrogen (equivalent ammonia 3.6) 3.0 per cent 

Potash 2.3 per cent 



FERTILIZERS. 415 

Transportation of Fertilizers. 

It will readily be seen from these examples how an in- 
finite number of changes may be made, with the com- 
mercial sources named to produce any desired ratio of 
fertilizing chemicals. In computing tne ultimate cost of 
any mixture, the cost of transportation from market to 
farm assumes considerable importance. It will be seen 
that in Example i, the .required amount of fertilizing; 
chemicals is contained in a mixture weighing 461 pounds, 
while in example 2 a smaller result requires a mixture 
weighing 664 pounds, nearly 50 per cent, heavier. There- 
fore, if the transportation per pound were the same in 
each case, that part of the cost would be 50 per cent, 
greater in one case than in the other. It follows in gen- 
eral, that where transportation is of any consequence, the 
fertilizers having highest percentage of ingredients are 
most desirable. 

Table XVIII., while giving the commercial sources of 
fertilizing chemicals, does not fully indicate the sources 
in xiature from which these commercial articles originate. 
It may be of value to briefly refer to some of these ori- 
ginal sources. 

Acid phosphate is commonly derived from fossilized 
rock, found in many places on the sea-coast and some- 
times in the interior, at places supposed to have been orig- 
inally covered by the ocean. This lock is believed to be 
the petrified remains of fishes and other marine animals. 
This rock is mined, dried and ground into fine powder, 
and treated with sulphuric acid, which renders the phos- 
phoric acid soluble. 

There are other sources of ])hosphoric acid, such as 
Thomas slag (50 per cent, available) and bone meal (20 per 
cent, available). It has been abundantly proved by experi- 
ment that phosphoric acid, to benefit a cotton plant, must 
be soluble, so that the plant may avail itself of the total 
amount applied each season. There is current in some 
localities, a popular idea that the less soluble forms are valu- 



4l6 FERTILIZERS. 

able for their lasting qualities in making the ground perma- 
nently rich; but such supposition is not sustained by the 
facts, from a commercial point of view. 

Nitrate of soda is a natural product, mined in some parts 
of South America. 

Cotton seed meal is a by-product in the manufacture 
of oil from cotton seed. 

Kainit is a natural product mined in Germany. 

The names of other items in the table mostly suggest 
their origin. 

While the value of fertilizing the cotton plant is an ac- 
knowledged axiom, it must not be forgotten that the ul- 
timate value depends upon moisture, natural or artificial. It 
is impossible for any plant to assimilate any fertilizer in the 
solid state, and hence it is essential ( i ) that the fertilizer 
should be soluble, either in water or by action of plant roots 
in presence of moisture, (2) that there should be moisture 
sufficient for their solution, (3) that this moisture should 
not be so abundant as to wash the fertilizers out of the 
reach of the plants. 

With the proper understanding of the subject, excellent 
results in making fertilizers may be attained on the farm, 
without the use of any machinery Vx'hatever. From Table 
XVIII. may be selected a list of materials which are the 
cheapest or most available for the locality. From the analy- 
sis it is easy to compute the quantities required to produce a 
fertilizer of any desired composition. These may be thor- 
oughly mixed by weighing out the ingredients and scattering 
them in thin layers, one after another in a bin on the floor, 
and then mixing them all together with a hoe or rake. 

There is generally a considerable saving to the farmer in 
thus mixing his own fertilizers. He w^ould save the profit of 
the fertilizer factory, and in most cases the profits of middle- 
men, and save something in freight and hauling. At first 
sight it might seem that the items of transportation would 
be the same, whether the materials were bought separately or 
bought ready mixed ; but there are several causes which con- 



FKRTIUZKRS. 417 

tribute to making- a difference. In the first place, the average 
commercial fertilizer is in dilute form. The average analysis 
is approximately : 

Per cent. Pounds per ton 

Phosphoric acid 9 180 

Ammonia ( from nitrogen ) 3 6o 

Potash 2 40 

Total weight of acti\e princi_de. . 14 283 

There is no serious fault to be found with this analysis, 
from the standpoint of plant-food. The best re.~ults in feel- 
ing plants, (as well as animals), obtain when the actual 
nutritive ingredients are in dilute form. But it is highly 
wasteful to pay for freighting and hauling 2,000 pounds, to 
get 280 pounds of plant food. If it were practicable for the 
farmer to obtain the 280 pounds in a pure state, he could 
dilute it with dirt up to 2,000 pounds and have a fertilizer 
ecjually as good as before, and at the same time save 86 per 
cent, of the cost of transportation. But the cost per pound 
of the chemicals is somewhat greater, the more concentra.ed 
the form, and hence the particular form in which to buy 
them, is a matter to be considered in each case on th;; basis of 
the current market values and the cost of trans-^ortation. 

Most farms in the cotton-growing area are al)le to obtain 
cotton seed meal from local oil mills, and would thus use that 
as a cheap source of ammonia. The use of cattle manure in 
connection with other ingredients, helps in keeping down the 
cost. 

If svstematic attention is paid to saving cattle manure, 
especiallv in cases where cattle raising is made part of the 
farm programme, there can be almost enough nitrogen pro- 
duced at hon:e to make all fertilizers. As this is the most 
expensive item in fertilizers, it is highly important to arrange 
the whole farming system with reference to this point. 

The manner of collecting and preservi-g cattle manure 



4l8 FERTILIZERS. 

deserves some consideration. \\'hen cattle are fed in open 
fields, the manure can be most cheaply utilized by trans- 
ferring the cattle, and cultivating- the land. If cattle are fed 
in pens, the manure should be piled into compact masses, and 
kept moist. The less contact it has with air. the better. Th^ 
use of cut straw and other litter helps absorb and preserve 
the liquid manure. If the animals lie on the manure or 
trample it down, it serves the same good purpose as other- 
wise compacting it. But in such cases, the manure should 
be utilized as soon as the animals are removed, or it would 
become dry and otherwise deteriorate. 

The mixing of acid phosphate with stable manure serves 
the double purpose of preserving its qualities, and of making 
a proper fertilizer. About 2 pounds of acid phosphate per 
day per head of cattle is a good rough rule. In making any 
kind of home mixture, the combination of lime or ashes with 
acid phosphate should be avoided. This would tend to make 
the phosphoric acid insoluble. 

The analysis of most commercial fertilizers contains the 
item "ammonia," while some contain the item "nitrogen" 
instead. Ammonia is composed of nitrogen 14 pounds, 
hydrogen, 3 pounds. It is easy in all computations to con- 
vert one to the other by the use of this proportion. Xitrogen 
is the element that costs money. The hydrogen is derived 
from water. A fertilizer said to contain 3 per cent, am- 
monia, may also' be said to contain ( fourteen-seventeenths of 
3) 2.48 per cent, nitrogen, and vice versa. 

To produce a fertilizer having any given analysis, say : 

Per cent. Pounds per ton 

Phosphoric acid 9 180 

Ammonia 3 . 60 

Potash 2 40 

A variety of mixtures might be made, as per examples 
given below, using the analysis given in Table XVIII. 

The number of pounds of each ingredient is found by 



FERTILIZERS. 419 

dividing- the amount of chemical required by the percentage 
composition of the ingredient. 

If 180 pounds phosphoric acid is required, and the phos- 
phate contains 15 per cent., the amount of phosphate re- 
quired is 1 80-f-. 15^1,200 pounds. 

EXAMPLE I. 

Acid phosphate ( 180-^.15 ) 1,200 lbs 

Cotton seed meal ( 60-^.0850 ) 700 lbs 

Muriate potash ( 40^-. 50) 80 lbs 

Adulterant 20 lbs 



2,000 lbs 



This table does not give exactly correct results for the 
reason that cotton seed meal contains (besides ammonia) 
small amounts of phosphoric acid and potash, which for sim- 
plicity have in this case been neglected. 

The adulterant might be omitted, in which case the analy- 
sis would run higher in all the items. 

EXAMPLE II. 

Acid phosphate ( 180-^.15) 1,200 lbs 

Sulphate ammonia (6o^-.2489) 240 lbs 

Kainit (40-^.12) 33?> ^bs 

Adulterant 227 lbs 

2.000 lbs 



420 FERTILIZERS. 



EXAMPLE III. 

Acid phosphate ( i8o^-.i5) 1,200 lbs 

Sulphate ammonia (60^-. 2489) 240 lbs 

Muriate potash (40-^.50) 80 lbs 

Adulterant 480 lbs 



2,ooo lbs 



A popular and cheap mixture is : 

Acid phosphate 1 200 pounds 

Cotton seed meal 600 pounds 

Kainit 200 pounds 



2000 pounds 

According- to the analysis in Table XVIII. the contents of 
the mixture would be : 

Phosphoric acid ■ 9.80 per cent 

Ammonia 2.55 per cent 

Potash 1.75 per cent 

All such mixtures as the above, whether home made or 
from fertilizer factory, are generally known as "manipulated 
fertilizer," or as "ammoniated fertilizer." 

Commercial Value. 

Most of the State governments issue bulletins, from time 
to time, giving the market value of the fertilizing chemicals, 
as calculated from the market \'alue of the usual crude 
materials containing them. Thus if an acid phosphate is 
sold in the market at $12.00 per ton, and analysis shows it 
to contain 15 per cent, available phosphoric acid, there would 
be 300 pounds phosphoric acid sold for $12.00, which would 



FERTILIZERS. 42 1 

make a valuation of phosphoric acid, in tliat shap-e, four 
cents per pound. 

The average values assigned to these chemicals are ahout 
as follows : 

Phosphoric acid 4c per pound 

Nitrogen (equivalent to ammonia, loc) . . . f2c per pound 
Potash 4c per pound 

At these prices, the last mentioned mixture would ccjntain 
chemicals of the following value : 

Phosphoric acid, 196 lbs.@4c $ 7.84 

Nitrogen, 51 lbs.@i2c 6.12 

Potash, 35 lbs.@4c i .40 

Total value $15-36 

By referring to the bulletin valuations, and examiiiinc; the 
analysis of any fertilizer, it is easy to calculate the cost of 
the actual ingredients, and thus determine whether it would 
pay better to purchase the ready mixed fertilizer at the price 
asked, or mix an equivalent at home. 

The "commercial value" must not be too implicitly relied 
upon as an absolute guide. It should be treated as giving in- 
formation as to relative values of different fertilizers offered 
for sale. The "agricultural value" is, of course, the final 
test, and this must of necessity be determined by actual ex- 
periments with any given fertilizer for a given cro]:) on a 
given piece of land. Even tliese experiments are subject to 
some variation, due to variations in the rainfall and other 
weather conditions. 

Mixing Fertilizers at Oil Mills. 

Cotton seed meal forms an acceptable ingredient oi" mixed 
fertilizers, and it is, therefore, logical that the oil mill should 
undertake the mixing of fertilizers as an adjunct to the 



422 FERTIUZERS. 

business, and it has been widely and profitably done. The 
cotton seed meal may be delivered in bulk by conve^'ors to 
the mixing room, thus saving the expense of sacking. 

The mixing machine may be very simple and inexpensive. 
It has even been profitably done by hand, using a hand screen 
for sifting out the lumps. 

A good form of mixer is shown in Figure 124. 

Fertilizer flixer, Fig. 124 — Lettering. 

A. — Hopper to receive the ingredients. 
B. — Elevator belt or chain. 
C. — Elevator cups. 
D. — Pulley in elevator head. 
E. — Pulley in elevator boot. 
F. — Material going into mixer. 
, G. — Ribs of revolving reel. 
H. — Driving gears. 
J. — Rolls to crush lumps. 
K. — Knives to scrape rolls. 
L. — Conveyor to take mixed fertilizer. 
M. — Spouts to hold bags. 
N. — Gates to admit the fertilizer to either spout as desired. 

Process. 

Have adjacent to the feeding hopper two shallow bins, say 
10 feet square and 2 feet deep. Each bin will hold about five 
tons. Weigh the ingredients into one of the bins, one or two 
hundred pounds at a time, according to the formula decided 
upon, making successive layers of each material. When bin 
is full, shovel the materials out (cutting from top to bottom 
of layers) into hopper of the machine. 

Elevator delivers the material into revolving reel, which 
further mixes and screens it. 

The uniformly fine mixture is hoppered to the conveyor, 
which carries it to the bagging spout. 

The lumpy materials which will not pass through the 



424 FERTILIZERS. 

meshes or perforations, roll out the lower end of screen, and 
are ground between the rolls, and delivered to the conveyor. 

While one bin is being worked out, the other is being 
weighed full. 

These machines will handle two to four tons of fertilizer 
per hour, according to size of machine, and according to 
character of the ingredients used. The reel should run 
about 20 to 30 revolutions per minute. Generally, all of 
the ingredients are dry, and are ground fine when received. 
Kainit is the most troublesome of the ordinary ingredients 
used. It absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and be- 
comes lumpy in damp weather. 

There are other mixing machines, which are designed to 
do more or less grinding while mixing. 

The important difference between mixing fertilizers on 
the farm for home use, and mixing them in the mill for sale 
is that in the latter case, the law^s recjuire certain guaranteed 
analysis, or they fix a minimum percentage of phosphcric 
acid, ammonia and potash. The actual analysis as guaran- 
teed by the mill must be branded on each sack sold. These 
sacks are occasionally sampled and analyzed, wherever 
found, by the State inspector. Therefore, it is important 
that all fertilizer plants should frequently analyze the 
materials they buy and the goods they sell. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Zbc riDanufacturc of fertilisers. 

The foregoing chapter dealt with the manipulation of 
certain fertilizer ingredients into definite mixtures, contain- 
ing known proportions of the fertilizing chemicals. This 
pre-supposes the existence of these ingredients. The 
present chapter will discuss the production of some of these 
ingredients from natural sources of supply. 

Raw riaterials. 

Table XVIII. has shown some of the usual sources from 
which fertilizer factories secure their raw materials. Nitro- 
gen (or ammonia) is usually taken from cotton seed meal, 
nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, dried blood, or tank- 
age and fish scrap. 

Cotton seed meal is on the market as such. It contains 
about 7 per cent, nitrogen. Nitrate of soda comes from the 
nitrate mines of Chili. It is concentrated before shipment, 
and is about 96 per cent, pure nitrate, equivalent to 16 per 
cent, nitrogen. 

Sulphate of ammonia is a by-product from gas works. It 
contains about 20 per cent, nitrogen. 

Dried blood is obtained from slaughter houses. It con- 
tains about 12 per cent, nitrogen (varying from 8 to 16 per 
cent. ) . 

Tankage is obtained from slaughter houses. It is variable 
in composition, consisting of all kinds of waste bones, meat 
and other offal. It contains about 5 per cent, nitrogen. 

Fish scrap is the residue from menhaden hsh, w'hen they 
have been pressed for oil. It contains about 8 per cent, 
nitrogen. 

Potash is mostly the product of German mines, generally 
in the form of sulphate or muriate. Kainit contains about 
12 per cent, potash in the form of sulpliate. Sylvinit is a 



426 THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 

mixture of sulphate and muriate, and contains about 14 per 
cent potash. 

There are some concentrated forms of muriate and sul- 
phate on the market, containing as much as 50 per cent, 
potash. 

The fertilizer factories of the United States do not under- 
take to manufacture nitrogenous or potassic chemicals, but 
accept them as raw materials as they appear on the markets. 
All of the materials mentioned are soluble, and thus avail- 
able as plant-food. Phosphoric acid, however, occurs in 
Cjuantity only in an insoluble state. Fertilizer factories 
undertake to convert these raw materials into products con- 
taining phosphoric acid in a condition that may be taken up 
by plant life. 

Phosphoric Acid. 

Phosphoric acid is generally referred to as ( i ) insoluble 
(that is, insoluble in water and ammonium citrate, though 
soluble in strong acids), (2) soluble (that is, soluble in 
water), (3) reverted, which is soluble, in ammonium cit- 
rate. The insoluble is of no use to plant life. The soluble is 
of immediate use: the moisture in the soil dissolves it and 
carries it to the roots of the plants. The reverted is not solu- 
ble in water (it is soluble in ammonium citrate), but may 
nevertheless be taken up by the roots of plants when they find 
it. Thus the two last forms are useful, and are generally 
referred to together as "available." The "available" is all 
that is of value to the farmer. 

Soluble phosphoric acid may be made from raw bones, 
containing about 20 to 25 per cent, total ( soluble and in- 
soluble), of which 5 per cent, is available, or from bone 
black containing 35 per cent, insoluble. But the common 
source of supply is phosphate rock. This is mined in South 
Carolina, containing 25 to 30 per cent, phosphoric acid; 
in Florida, as land rock phosphate, containing- 30 to 35 per 
cent., or as pebble phosphate, containing 25 to 30; and in 
Tennessee, containing about 35 per cent. 




03 









THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 429 

F'ertilizei" factories recei\e this n ck in l)ulk in cars, and 
grind it into fine powder, and treat it with strong suli)hnric 
acid, thus converting the phosphoric acid into the available 
form, the product being known as acid phosphate, and some- 
times as super-phosphate, containing about 15 jier cent, 
available phosphoric acid. The ground rock is treated with 
its own weight of sulphuric acid, so that rock containing 30 
per cent, would produce a mixture containing only 15 per 
cent. — omitting a small allowance for evaporation. 

Sulphuric Acid. 

For the manufacture of acid phosphates, large quantities 
of sulphuric acid are required. Most of it is water, upon 
which it is uneconomical to pay freights. It is also danger- 
ous to ship. Therefore most fertilizer companies manufac- 
ture sulphuric acid. 

Figure 125 is a general view of a complete fertilizer plant, 
showing the sulphuric acid chamber on the left. Figure 126 
is a plan and sectional elevation of the acid chamber. On the 
left, is the furnace for burning the sulphur or pyrites. The 
gases pass through one of the towers into the leaden cham- 
bers, where they are mostly condensed, the remaining gases 
being led to and reclaimed in the other tower. 

Sulphuric acid may be made from sulphur or from pyrites. 
The most profitable material from which to make it must 
be determined from their respective market prices. 

Nearly all of the sulphur is imported from Sicily. Large 
quantities of pyrites are imported from Spain and Portugal ; 
but it is also largely tpined in the United States. There are 
known good mines in the United States (both sulphur and 
pyrites) which are not available because of co.^t of mining or 
transportation. 

Nearly all sulphuric acid chambers, running in connection 
with fertilizer factories have their furnaces arranged for 
burning pyrites. Some of them have furnaces for sulphur 
also, so that they may change from one to the otlier to suit 
market changes. 



4y> Till'; MANi'KACTrKi'; ()!• i"i;ktii,izkks. 

Tiio process (il making- acid is siil>staiuially tlu. same, 
whether hurnin_^- sulphur nr pyrites, the i)riiieipal (hiTerence 
hein^' in the ctnislructinn nf the I'liniaees. The suli^hur or 
l)\rites is !)nnie(I in a suitable furnace. The resuhing' gases, 
nidstlx' sulpluuiius acid iLjas, pass ox'cr heated pots of nitrate 
111' scda, whic-h ,<;i\e olT nitrous o-ases. Tlie^c .teases niiiii^le 
and pass through the (il(i\er tnwcr into Iar;;e lead chambers, 
into which jets of steam are admitted. Tlicre are two, and 
sometimes three, lead cli.ambers, into which the gases suc- 
cessi\el\' pass. The first chaml)er c<Midenses and catches the 
strongest acid, the ones farthest away make the weakest. 
The imcondensed gases are conducted hack near the starting 
l)oinl to ('.a\-l,u^sac tower, where the nitrous gases .are 
paitly reclaimed, and the remain(h.'r esea])e. 

The chemical reactions taking pk'iee in the manufacture of 
sulphuric acid are ci implicated. 

The result acconii)lished is that sulphur fumes in the 
presence of nitrous fumes and steam, all under ])roper condi- 
tions, pro(luce >ulphuric ricid, which condenses into li(pud 
form. 'Idle gases which do not condense in the lead cham- 
bers consist inostl\- of nitrous fumes. These gases are 
passed to and up the ('lay-l.ussac tower from the bottom, 
while strong cool sul])huric acid ((x) degrees Baume') is 
run down fnun the to]). This >ulphuric acid absorl)s the 
nitre lis gases ;md sa\es them for further use. 'iMiey nre 
separated fri'iu the acid 1)\' being run down the Glover 
tower, ihrouL^h which the hot sulpluu' fumes are passing up 
in mi the furnaces. 

This contact helps in the |)roduction of more sulphuric 
acid, rmd makes a com|)lete cycle, in w hich the nitrous gases 
are used o\-cr and o\er, without being intentionally con- 
sumed. In ])ractice, liowe\er, a small amount of the gases 
are actually condensed with the sul])hurie acid, and some 
escai)es into the air, so that it is necessary tO' constantly 
su])pl\- fresh nitre, in jxits in the furnaces. 

An ordinar\ plant for the ])roduction td' 20 to 25 tons of 
sulphuric acid per da_\- of 24 hours, wnuld have about 




^ 



'fx 



'fx 



Tlilv MAM'I'ACTrKI", OF I'l-.RT 1 1,1 /IvKS. 433 

I 50,orjo cu])ic feci of Icul c]ianil)ers,say 30 feel wide, 20 feel 
hij^-h, 250 feel lonjr- This is ahoul 7,^00 ciil)ic feel of cliaiii- 
ber ])er ton capacily (in 24 hours) of sulj^liuric acid. This 
is ihe lowesl allo\\al)lc liinil f<;r ^of>fl workini^. and iii' re 
chanil)er s])ace would work heller, '{'here woukl be (jne 
Gk>\'er lower a])out 9 feel srjuarc and 30 feet hi.t(h, say 2,430 
cu]>ic feet, or 120 culjic feel per Ion capacity of sulphunc 
acid There woukl be one or two Gay-Lussac towers with 
total space of about 1,500 culiic feet or 75 cubic feet per to!i 
capacity f;f acid. If it is in one lower, it nu"p;-ht be 7 feet 
square and 30 feet hij.(h , or if two lowers, 5 feet sfjuare and 
30 feet high. 

The towers are built of limber, or steel frame, and lined 
first with sheet lead, and then with hard fire bricks, and 
finally packed full of quartz rock, for the purpose of makin<4- 
the down-coming acids spread out, and more intimately mix 
with the up-going gases. 

The furnaces would vary according to whether sul])!iui 
or lump pyrites or fine dust pyrites are used. The cliam- 
bers are made by soldering together large sheets of lead in 
place. This fjperation is technically known as "learl-burn- 
ing." The floor of chambers is usually built 4 or 5 feet 
from the ground, to afTord ojjportunity for detection of 
leaks. The walls of the chambers are built 4 or 5 feet from 
the w'alls of the building, so that there may be free access to 
every part. 

In some improved forms of chambers, there are cooling 
columns inserted between the successive chambers, 'i'hcse 
pass the gases around lead tubes, through which air is made 
to circulate. This assists the chambers in condensing the 
gases. Sulphuric acid is pumped to the top of the towers, 
and elsewhere by the use of compresed air. Ordinary forms 
of pump would Ije corroded and soon destroyed by the acid. 
An air compressor forces air into a cast iron drum contain- 
ing acid (technically known as an "acid tg^' ). This forces 
the acid out to the point desired. The pressure is released 
and more acid admitted, and so on. Sometimes the arrange- 



434 THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 

ment is automatic, so that the pumping goes on contin- 
uously, without any attention. 

The theoretical composition of pure sulphuric acid is by 
weight as follows : 

Hydrogen 2 pares 

Sulphur 32 parts 

Oxygen 64 parts 

98 parts 
Or what is the same thing: 

Sulphur 32 

Oxygen 48 

Water 18 

98 

In practice, however, the nearest approach to the above 
composition contains more water, as follows : 

Sulphur 54 

Oxygen 64 

Water 96 

214 

According to this last formula, sulphur forms about 2"^ 
per cent, of the weight of the strongest acid. The strength 
of acid is generally measured by its specific gravity, as deter- 
mined by a hydrometer. The Baume' hydrometer is the one 
generallv in use in this country. The strong acid above men- 
tioned has a specific gravity of about 1.82, or 66 degrees 
Baume'. This is known to the trade as "oil of vitriol." 

The ordinary acid, as made in the acid chamber for use in 
making fertilizers, has a specific gravity of 1.5, or 50 degrees 
Baume'. This strength of acid contains 62^ per cent, of 
theoretical acid, or about 20 per cent, of sulphur. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 435 

According to the abo\-e calculations, one pound of sulphur 
should produce about 5 pounds of 50 degree acid. Owing 
to the losses in the processes, 4^ pounds is good practice. 

An acid chamber having a capacity of 150.000 cubic feet 
would burn in a day of 24 hours about 10.000 pounds of 
sulphur. This would produce about 47,500 pounds of 50 
degree acid, or say 24 tons. The cost of operation would be 
about as follows : 

10.000 lbs sulphur (a ic $100.00 

300 lbs nitrate soda («: 2c 6.00 

i| tons coal (a; $3.50 5.25 

Labor (6 men) 6.00 

Superintendence 3.00 

Insurance and incidentals 4.00 

Total cost of 24 tons acid $124.25 

Cost per ton about $5.20. 

When using pyrites instead of sulphur, the cost may 
generally be reduced. Ordinary American pyrites contains 
about 42 per cent, of actual sulphur, but only about 40 per 
cent, can be utilized. 

In order to make the same 24 tons of acid, it will require 
the same 10,000 pounds of sulphur, and this requires 25.003 
pounds of pyrites, or say 1 1 long tons. The cost of opera- 
tion would be about as follows : 

1 1 long tons pyrites (a $5.00 $55-00 

300 lbs. nitrate soda @ 2c 6.00 

2 tons coal @ $3.50 7.00 

Labor (8 men) 8.00 

Superintendence 3.00 

Insurance and incidentals 4.50 

Total cost of 24 tons acid $83 . 50 

Cost per ton about $3.50. 



436 THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 

The cost of acid chambers of the capacity above men- 
tioned is for burning sulphur about $25,000, and for burn- 
ing pyrites about $30,000. 

Figure 126 shows plan and elevation of a set of sulphuric 
acid chambers. 

Making Acid Phosphate. 

Fig. 127 shows the general arrangement of machinery 
for grinding phosphate rock and treating it with sulphuric 
acid for the production of the acid phosphate of commerce. 

Fertilizer Plant, Fig. 127 — Lettering. 

A. — Phosphate rock unloaded from cars. 
B. — Rock crusher. 
C. — Elevator. 

, D. — Bins for crushed rock. 
E. — Spouts to grinding mills. 
F. — Grinding mills. 
G. — Conveyor. 

H. — Elevator to ground rock bins. 
J. — Ground rock bins. 
K. — Mixing machine. 
L. — Sulphuric acid tank. 

M. — Car to carry away mixed material dumped from 
mixing machine. 

Process. 

Rock is crushed small enough for the grinding mills to re- 
ceive it. 

Crushed rock is elevated to bins, to be fed to mills. 

Mills grind rock to fine powder. 

The ground rock is stored in bins at top of tower, ready 
for mixing. 

Ground rock is weighed into mixing machine. 

Sulphuric acid is weighed into mixing machine, about 
same weight as the ground rock. 




Fig. 127. Fertilizer Factory. 



438 THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 

Mixing machine stirs them intimately together. Heat 
and fumes are generated. 

When mixing is complete, material is dumped into a car 
running on track to the desired spot in the shed, where it 
is automatically dumped. 

Material remains in the dum]j shed and dries until ready 
to be sacked. 

Sacking is accomplished in a machine similar to the ferti- 
lizer mixer, Fig. 124. 

Finished Fertilizers. 

Mixed or "manipulated" fertilizers of any dedred formul.i 
may be made according to the process described in the last 
chapter. 

There is another style of mixing that can only be done 
in a plant where the acid phosphate is actually made. This 
is known as the "wet mix." Instead of waiting for the 
acid phosphate to dry and be sacked for mixture with the 
potash- and ammonia-producing chemicals, these chemicals 
are elevated to the top of the building into bins near the 
ground rock bins. When the ground rock is run into the 
mixer and treated with sulphuric acid, then the ammonia 
chemicals are added, and finally the potash, and they are all 
mixed at once, thus being perfectly blended. The product 
is then run into the car and dumped, as in the case of plain 
acid phosphate. 

In making wet mixtures, nitrate of soda should never be 
used, because in presence of sulphuric acid, nitrogen es- 
capes. Even in dry mixing, it is not well to use nitrate of 
soda, because in standing, there is loss of nitrogen, but all 
other sources of nitrogen may be freely used. 

Wet mixed fertilizers are much more uniform in analysis 
than the dry mixed. 

A fertilizer factory of this description of sufiicient ca- 
pacity to use the 24 tons of acid in 24 hours, made by the 
acid chamber described, would use 24 tons of rock, and 
make about 45 tons of commercial acid phosphate. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 439 

If the whole product is turned into ammoniated guano, 
it would make about 75 tons. 

The cost of such a fertilizer factory would be about 
$25,000. The whole cost of fertilizer factory and acid 
chamber for burning pyrites would be $6o,ooo to $75,000. 

The result of the operations of the entire plant for one day 
of 24 hours, making ammoniated fertilizer, would be about 
as follows : 

Sulphuric acid, 24 tons @ $4.50 $108.00 

Phosphate rock. 24 tons @ $6.00 144.00 

Cotton seed meal 22^ tons (a $18.00 405.00 

Kainit, 7^ tons (a $10.00 75-00 

6 tons coal @ $3.50 21.00 

Sacks 6o.OD 

Labor (20 men) 20.00 

Superintendence 3.00 

Insurance and sundries lo.oo 

Total cost 75 tons of fertilizer $846.00 

This is about $11.30 per ton. In the above table the sul- 
phuric acid is put in at the cost of manufacture, as shown 
in a former table. 

Ammoniated fertilizers usually cost the farmer $20 to 
$25 per ton. The great difference between manufactin-ing 
cost, and the cost to consumer is not by any means all profit 
to the manufacturer. He usually sells to a wholesale dealer, 
who sometimes guarantees to sell the entire output. These 
in turn sell to retail dealers, who sell to the farmer, very 
often on long credit. Thus the apparent profit is divided 
between the manufacturer and at least two middlemen, be- 
sides being reduced by interest on the long credit, and by 
bad debts. 

Cotton Option. 

Sometimes fertilizers are sold to farmers on what is known 
as the "cotton option" plan. The farmer buys the fertilizer 



440 THE MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZERS. 

in the spring, payable the next fall, either at a stated price, 
say $25.00 per ton, or for say 300 pounds of lint cotton, re- 
gardless of the price. The farmer has the option. He 
would, of course, pay in cotton instead of money, in case 
the price of cotton should happen to be (on the arrangement 
above stated), less than 81-3 cents per pound at the speci- 
fied date of settlement. This is in the nature of a specula- 
tion ; but it is a safe one for the farmer, and may be made 
safe for the fertilizer man if he fixes the option equivalent 
at such a price that it may be covered by the sale of cotton 
"futures." 



APPENDIX. 



Containing Documents Relating to the Early History of 

the Saw Gin, and Notes and Tables Relating 

to Cattle Feeding. 



APPENDIX. 443 

Document I. 
List of Suits for Infringement and 
Damages Brouglit by Whitney in 
United States District Court, Sa= 
vannah, Ga. 

Edward Lyons, 1795, non-suit, 1798. 
Wm. Kennedy & Co., 1795, verdict for 
defendant. 
Fred Ballard, 179S, non-suit, 1799. 
McKinney & Co., 1801, dismissed, 
1804. 
William Clark, ISOl, non-suit, 1803. 
John Morrison, ISOl, defendant dead. 
William Byrnes, 1801, non-iSuit, 1S03. 
John "Walker, 1801, non-suit, 1804. 
Chas. Giaoiist, 1801, non-suit, 180'3. 
Isaiah Carter, 1801, non-suit, 1803. 
Wm. Few, 1801, verdict for defend- 
ant. 
Joim Davis, 1801, non-suit, 1803. 
Sam': Devereux, 1801, not served. 
Siolomon Marshall, 1801, settled. 
Arthur Fort, 1801, not served. 
James Moore, 1801, not served. 
Ignatius Few, 1801, not served. 
iSam'l Higginbotham, 1801, non-suit, 
1803. 
Jonathan Embree, ISOl, non-suit, 

1S03. 

•Henry Keebler, 1801, non-suit, 1803. 

D. W. Easley, 1801, non-suit, ISO'3. 

Silus Grigg, 1801, not found. 

Arthur Fort, 1801, non-suit, 1803. 

Arthur Fort and John Powell, 1804, 
decree for perpetual injunction, Dec. 
19th, 1806. 

Chas. Gachet, ISOe, verdict for $1,- 
500, May 11th, 1808. 

Isaiah Carter, 1806, verdict for $2,- 
000, May 10th, 1808. 

Wm.. Byrnes, 1807, judgm.ent by de- 
fault, isn. 



444 APPENDIX. 

Document II. Document III. 

WHITNEY'S SPIKE GIN THE WHITNEY SUBSTITUTED 

PATENT. PATENT PAPERS. 

Certified Copy of the Original Patent Copy of Specifications filed with the 

Specif cations filed in the Patent Patent Office in 1841, After the 

Office by Eli Whitney, 1 793=4- Fire. This Purports to be a Re= 

This paper is now on file in the production of the Original Papers. 

United States Court House, Savan= It is Printed in Parallel Column, 

nah, Qa. so it May be Compared With the 

Authentic Copy. 

This paper is now on file in the 
Patent Office at Washington. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

To all to whom these Liet&ers Patent 
shall come: 

WHEREAS, Eli Whitney, a citizen of 
the United States, hath alleged that he 
has invented a new and useful im- 
provement in the m'ode of spinning cot- 
tion, which improvement he sbates has 
n'ot been known or used Defore hi'S ap- 
plication; hath made o'a h that he does 
verily believe !>ha<: he is me true inven- 
t'Oi or discoverer of the said imiprove- 
ment; bath paid into the Tre(asury oX 
the United States the sum of thirty dol- 
lai's, delivered la riecei'p^> for the same,, 
and presented a petition to the Secre- 
tary of State, sig-nifying- a desire of ob- 
taining an exclusive property in the 
siaid improvement, and pnaying thai> a 
patent may be granted: THESE ARE 
'THEREFORE to grant, according vo 
law, to t.he said Eli Whitney, his heirs, 
administrators or asisigns, flor i«he term 
of fourteen years from the sixth d'ay of 
November Isi-st, the full and exclusive 
right and liberty of making, construct- 
ing, using, vending to ot«hers to be used, 
the said hnprovements; a description 



(NOTE. — Corresponding clause occurs 
at the end of this paper.) 



APPENDIX. 445 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

whereof us g-iven in the words of the 
said Eli Whitney, himsielf, in the sched- 
ule hereto annexed, and is made a pan 
of these presents. 

In bestLmiony whereoiT I have caused 
these Letters to be made Palent, and 
the Seal of the United States to be 
hereiunoo affixed. 
GIVEN under my hand, at the City of 
Philadelphia, this fourteenth day of 
March, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand, seven hundred and ninety- 
four, and of the Independence of the 
United Soates of America the eigh- 
teenth. 
(Seal.) 

G. WASHINGTON. 
EDM. RANDOLPH, 
Secretary of State. 

City of Philadelphia, to-wit: 

I do certify that the foiregoing Le'- 
ters Patent were delivered to me on 
c>he fourteenth day of March, in the 
year oif our Lord one thousand, seven 
hundred and ninety-four, to be exiam- 
ined; that I have exiamined the same, 
and find them coniformatiie to law; and 
I do hereby reou'rn the isaime to the Sec- 
retary of Stiate -within fifteen days from 
the date aforesaid, to- wit, on this four- 
teenth day of Maroh, in &he year afiore- 
said. 

WM. BRADFORD, 
Attorney General of the United Stales. 

The schedule referred to in these 
letters patent and making part of the 
same, containing a description in the 
words of the said Eli Whitney himself 



446 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATKNT. 

of an improvement in tlie mode of gin- 
ning cotton. 

A description of a new invented cot- A siiort description of tihe machine 

ton gin, or machine for cleansing and invented by the subscriber for ginning 

separating cotton from its seeds.] cotton. 

This machine rrnay oe described undor The principal parts of this machine 

five divisions, corresponding to its five 'are 1st, the frame: 2d, the cylinder; 3d, 

principal parts, viz: 1. Frame. 2. The the breastwork; 4th, the clearer and 

Cylinder. 3. The Breastvork. 4. The 5th, the hopper. 

Cleaner. 5. The Hopper. 1st. The frame by which the whole 

1. The fram.e, by whidh the whole work is supported and kept together, 
work is supported and kept together, 

ought to be made of we"J seasoned 

tim.ber, so that it may be firm and 

steady, and never becom.e loose in the 

joints. 'Scantling four inches by three, 

will perhaps be stuff, of as suita'ble size 

as any. The frame should be of a 

square or parallelogramlc form, the is of a square or parallelogramic form 

width must answer to the length of and proportioned to the other parts as 

the cylinder and the height and length may be most convenient. 

m.ay be proportioned as circum.stances 

shall render convenient. 

In the di-awing annexed. Fig. 1, is a 
section of the m.aehine. A represents 
the cylinder, B the breastwork, C the 
cleaner and D the hopper. 

2. 'The cylinder is of wood; its form 2d. The cylinder is of wood, its forni 
is perfectly described by its name, and jg perfectly described bv its name, and 
its dimensions may be from six to nine j^g dimensions may be from six to nine 
inches diameter, and from two to five inches diameter, and from two to five 
feet in length. This cylender-cylender is feet in length. The cylinder is placed 
placed horizontally across the frame, in horizontally across the frame, leaving 
siuch manner as to give rocm for the room for the clearer on one side, and 
cleairer on one side of it, and the hopper ^^le hopper on the other. In the cyl- 
on the other as in Fig. 1. Its height, if 

the machine is worked by hand should 
be about three feet four inches; o^ther- 
wise it may be regulated by conven- 



APPENDIX. 447 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

ience. In the cylender is fixed an iron 
axis so large as to turn in tlie lathe 
without quivering. The axis may pa.ss 

qu.ite through the cylender or consist incJer is fixed an iron axis which may 
only of gudgeons, driven wiTh cement paB'S quite through, or aonsiscs onJy jf 
in each end. There must be a ^houl- gudgeons driven into each end. 
der at C, Fig. 2, on each side the bear- There are sho'uldeirs on this axis, to 
ing or box to prevent any horiz'ontil prevent any horizontal variation, and i: 
variation in the cylinder. The bear- 
ings of the axis or those parts which 
rest on the boxes must be rounded in 
a lathe, so that the centre of the axis 
may coincide with the centre of the 

cylender. One end of the axis should extends so far without the fram.e as 
extend so far wi'hout the frame as to to admit a winch at one end, by which 
admit the winch, by which it is turned, it is put in motion, and so far at the 
to be connected with it at C, and so far other end as to receive the whirl by 
at the other end as to receive t/he whirl which the clearer is turned. The sur- 
designed for putting the clearer in mo- 
tion. The brass boxes, in which the 
axis of the cylender runs, consist' 
each of two parts, C and -D, Fig. 7. 
The lower part, D, is sunk into th3 
wood of the frame to keep it firm, and 
rr.ot Ion less and the upper part, C, 
is kept in its place by two small iron- 
iron bolts, H;H, headed on the lower end 
at H. These bolts are inserted into the 
under side of the rail or scantling of 
the frame and continued up through 
both parts of the box. A portion of 
thfc bo4ts as H, A, should be square, 
to prevent them from turning. The 
upper part of the box, C, is screwed 
dcwn close with a nut on the end 
0'! each bolt. At E, is a perforation for 
conveying oil to the axis. After the 
cylinder with its axis is fitted and 
rounded with exactness, the circular face of the cylinder is filled with teeth, 



448 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAI, PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

part of its surface i'=- filled with teeth set in annular rows, which are at such 
set in annular rows. Ine spaces D, E, a distance from eaoh other as to admit 
F, G, H, Fig. 2, Ijetween the rows a cotton seed to play freely in the 
of teeth must be so large as to admit a space between them. The space be- 
cotton seed to turn around freely *n 
them every way, and ought not vo ne 
less than seven-sixteenthis of one inch. 

The spaces K, L, M, N, &c , Fig. 1, bs- 
tween the teeth, in ihe same row, must 'tween each tooth in the same row, is 
be. so small as not bo admiit a seed or a so small as not to admit a seed, no.- a 
•half isee.d. They ought not to exceed half seed to enter it. 'These teeth are 
one-twelfth of an inch; and I think 
about one-sixteenth of an inch the best. 
The teeth a,re miaide and set in the fol- 
lowing manner: Ta.ke common iron made of stiff iron wire, driven into the 
v-ire, about No. 12, 13 or 14, dnaw it wood of tihe cylinder. The teeth are 
about three sizes less, without nealingin 
order tostiifen ib. Cut it into pieces four 
or five feet in leni^th and straighten 
th-eim. Steel wire would perlhaps be best 
if it were not too expensive. 

'Then with a machine, somewhat like 
ithat used for cutting nails, cut the wire 
into pieces about one inch long. In the 
j3ws of this machine at O, Fig. 10, 
■are fixed the two pieces of steel D, D, 
vvhioh are pressed together, as may be 
observed from the figure, by the opera- 
tion of a compound lever. These pieces 
of steel aro sio se(t in, that upoin being 
pressed together, their approadhing sur- 
faces, meeit only on one side next to D, 
D, leaving between tihiem a wedge like 
opening, which enlarges as the 'distanc3 
frcm the plaoe of contaot increases. On 
the side, D, D, about one inch distant 
from the place of contact, is fixed .i 
g-uage. 'The v/ire is inserted on the side 
opposite D, D, and thrust thUD' to the 



APPENDIX. 449 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT 

guage. Then on forcing down the lever 
the wire is separated, leaving that end 
of Ihe wire ntxt the side D, D, c'Jt 
smoothly and transversely off, and the 
end of the other part flattened like a 
wedge. The fattened end is then thrust 
forward to the guage and the same op- 
eiation is repealled. In this manner the 
teeth are cut of equal length, with one 
end flattened and the other cut direC-ly 
olf. Flatting one end of the wire is ben- 
eficial in two ways: 1. The flatted 
ends of the teeth are driven into ih? 
wood with more e'ase and exactness. 2. 
It prevents them from turning-turning 
after they are set. To prevent the wires 
from bending while driving, they .^^e 
holden with pliers the jaws of which 
ought to be about half an inch in w-idti\, 
with a correspondinig transverse g^roove 
in each jaw. Thus hoMen, the teeth 
are, with a light ham.meir driven, one 

by one, into tlhecylender, perpendicular- all inclined the same way and in such 
ly to its axi.s. Then with a tool, lik? a manner, that the angle included be- 
a chisel ot co.mmon screw driver each tween the tooth and a tangent drawn 
tooth is inclined directly towards the from a point into which the tooth is 
tangent to that po'imt of the circle, intj driven, will be about 55 or 60 degrees, 
which it is set, till the inclinatibn is The gudgeons of the cylinder run in 
such that the tooth and itiangent form brass boxes, each of which is in two 
an aiOgle of aboiut 5'5 or 60 degrees. If parts, one of which is fixed in the wood 
this inclination be greater, the teeth of the frame and the other is confined 
^ill mot take sufficient hold of ithe coc- down upon the axis with screws. 
ton, if it 'be less there will be more dif- 
ficutly in disengaging the cotton from 
the teeth, after it is separated from th? 
seeds. 

Wh&n the .eeth are all set they should 
be cut of tan equal length. In jrder for 
this, taike a crooked guage. Fig. 8, 



450 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT, SUBSTITUTED PATENT, 

having two prongs, Q, R, the curvature 
o' -^-Tiich corre-sponds with that of the 
cylinder. This gua.ge is merely a cnook- 
ed foirk, the thickness 'Of whose prongs 
or tines, as represemted between S 
and T, Fig. 9, equalizes the length 
•Dif the teeth, and is applied to tha 
cylinder, with one tine on each 
side of an a^nnular row. With a 
pair of cutting pliers, cut the iteeth 1. :'., 
3 and 6, off even with the guag?, 
then slide italong to 6, 7, S, &c., and 
so proceed till you have trimmed ail 
the teeth to an equal length. This done 
put the cylender into a lathe and ^\"ith 
a file bring the teeth to a kind of an- 
gular point, resembling a wii-e flatted 
and cut obliquely. After the teeih are 
brought to a proper shape, smooth 
them with a polishing file and the cyl- 
ender will be finished. 

Rem.ark. Though the dimensions of 
the cylender may be varied at pleasure, 
yet it is thought ^that those descrilbed 
are the best, being more easily made 
and kept in repair, than those of a 
larger size. The timber should be 
quarter stuff, i. e., a quarteir of the 
trunk of the tree, otherwise it will 
crack in seasoning. It must also be of 
wood of an equal density, such as 
beech, maple, black birch, &c. In oak 
and many other kinds of wood, there 
are spaces between the grains which 
are not so hard as the grains them- 
selves; and the teeth driven into these 
spaces would not stand sufficiently 
firm, while the grains are so haffd as 
to prevent the teeth fro'm being driven 
without bending. 



APPENDIX. 451 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

3. The breast woib, Pig. 2, a^nd B, F/ig. 3d. The breastwork is fixed above 
1 and Fig-. 2, is fisied above the cylender the cylinder, parallel and contiguous 
parallel and contiguous to the same, lo the same. It has transverse grooves 
It has transverse grooves or openings or openings through which the lowr af 
1, 2, 3, 4, &c., through which the rows- teeth pass as the cylinder revolves and 
rows of teeth pass as the cylender re- it'j use is to obstruct the seeds while 
vcives: and its use is to o/bsitruct the cotton is carried forward through 
the seeds 'while the cotton is car- the grooves by the teeth. Tthe thick- 
ried lor^wiard through the groioves ness of the breastwork is two and half 
by the teeth. That side of the breast- or three inches and the under side of it 
work next the cylinder should be made is made of iron or brass, 
of brass or iron, that it may be the 
more durable. Its face or surface A, 
X, Fig. 1, ought to make an angle with 
the tangent X, Z, less than 50 degrees. 
A tooth in passing from K up to the 
breastwork B, fastens itself upon a 
certain quantity of cotton, which is 
still connected with its seeds. The 
seeds being too large to pass through 
the breastwork are there stopped, while 

the cotton is forced thro' the groove 

and disengaged from the seeds. Now 
if the point of the tooth enters the 

groove before the root, or that part 

nt-xt the cylinder it carries through 

ail which it ha,s collecbed in coiming 

frc.m K; but if the root of tne 

tooth enter the groove before the 

point, part of the cotton fastened on it, 

will slide off, and this latter case is 

preferable as it helps to give the cot- 
ton a rotary motion in the hopper. The 

thickness of the breastwork, or the 

distance from A to I, Fig. 1, should be 

about 2% or 3 inches, in proportion to 

the length of the cotton. It should be 

such that the cotton which is carried 

through by the teeth may be diiscon- 



452 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

nected from-from that which is left in 
the hopper, before it leaves the grooves, 
otherwise that which is carried partly 
through the breastwork will be by the 
motion of that with which it is con- 
nected in the hopper become so collect- 
ed and knotted at I, as to obstruct and 
bend the teeth.** 

'The under part of the breastw^ork • 
next the cylender, ought, as has before 
been observed, to be made of iron or 
brass. It may be cast either in a solid 
•piece and the openings for the passage 
of the teeth cut -with a saw and files, 
or in as many parts as there are 
spaces between the several rows of 
teeth in the cylender and in form of 
Fig. 12, and the pieces set, by means 
of a shank or tenon, in a groove run- 
ing lengthwise along the wooden part 
of the breastwork. 

The breastwork described, if proper- 
ly constructed, will it is thought an- 
swer every valuable purpose. But I 
shall mention one of a different con- 
struction which I have used with suc- 
cess, and is made In the following 
manner: 

Form a breastwork of the same 
shape and dimensions as the one be- 
fore described, entirely of wood. Place 
a bar of wood one inch below the cyl- 
ender and parallel to it, then witlh straps 
<or ribs of iron, brass or tin plate con- 
nect the breastwork of-of wood with the 
bar 'belbw. 



**If the perforation about 3-16 of an 
inch be made through the breastwork 
at the upper part or end of each 
groove, the metal part need not be 
more than % of an inch thick. 



APPENDIX. 453 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

The ribs or straps must be so ap- 
plied as to sit close to the surface of 
the cylender between the wooden 
breastwork and the bar, and if of a 
width that will permit them to worK 

freely betwieenU he; annulariroiw^s of teeth. 
That end of each stra^ which is fa>s- 
tened to the breastwork should divide 
widthwise into two parts, one of which 
should pass aJoTngr the lower surface of 
the breastwork, and the other run up 
its front. In Fig-. 14, B, is the wooden 
breastwork. 03, the bar below the cyl- 
ender, the dotted circle B, B, the cylen- 
der E, E, the Strap C, the place 
where the strap divides, and A, A, A, 
wood screws or nails with whic'h the 
strap is m^ade fast to the bar and 
breastwork. 

4. The clearer C, Fig. 1, is construct- 4th. 'The clearer is placed horizon- 
ed in ihe following- manner: Take an tal with and parallel to the cylinder, 
iron axis perfectly similar to that de- its length is the same as that of the 
scribed as extending through the cyl- cylinder, and its diameter is propor- 
ender, except that it need not be so tioned by convenience. There are two, 

large nor fitted for the application of four or more brushes or rows of bris- 
a winch. Frame together crosswise ties, fixed in the surface of the clearer 
at right angles two pieces of timber of in such a manner that the ends of tihe 

suitable size and of a length about bristles will sweep the surface of the 
equal to tihe diameter of the cylenders, cylinder. 

so as t'O make the four arms equial <n 

length, amd insert the axis through the 

centers o'f iwo crosises or frames of this 

kind. Let their distance from each 

other be one-thind of the length of 

the cylender and m'ake them fast on 

the axis. The arm.s of the two crosses 

are then connected by four pieces, of 

the same length of the cylender, equi- 
distant from the axis, and parallel to 

the same, and to each other. In each 



454 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. • SUBSTITUTED PATENT, 

of the parallel pieces, on the outside 
or side opposite the axis, a channel is 
made lengthwise for the reception of 
a brush. The brush is made of hog^s 
bristles, set in a manner somenvhat 
similar to that of setting ihe reeds in 
a weaver's sleigh. Between two strips 
of wood about % of an inch in thick- 
ness and half an inch in breadth, is 
placed a small quantity of bristles; 
then a strong thread or twine is wound 
round the sticks, close to the bristles, 
then another quantity of bristles is 
inserted, etc., till a brush is formed, 
equal in length to the cyiender.* 

The bristles on the side A, A, Fig. 6, 
are smeared with pitch or rosin and 
seared down with a hot iron even with 
the wood, to prevent them from draw- 
ing out. On the other side they are 
cut w'it'h a chi'sel to the length of avbout 
one inch from the wood. A brush of 
this kind is fixed in each of the before 
mentioned channels. 

The boxes as well as axis of the Its axis and boxes are similar to 
clearer, are like those of the cyiender, those of the cylinder. It is turned by 
parallel to it and at such a distance, means of a band and w^hirls, moves in 
that while it revolves the ends of the 
bristles strike with a small degree of 
firiction on the cylender's surface. Its 
use is to brush the cotton from the 
teeth after it is forced through the 
grooves and separates from its seeds. 

It turns in a direction contrary from a comtrary direction from the cylinder 
that of the cyiender, and should so far by which it is put in motion, and so 



*(Perhaps nailing these straps to- 
gether would be better than winding 
them with twine.) 



APPENDIX. 455 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT, 

outrun it, as completely to sweep its far outruns it, as to sweep the cotton 
whole surface.* from tihe teeth as fast as it is carried 

A clearer with two brushes maj' be through the breastwork. The perl- 
made by simply screwing- upon the phery of the whirls is spherical and 
axis the board K, Fig. 4, and another the band a broad strap of leather, 
sim.ilar board on the opposite side, 
which leave spaces for the insertion of 
the brushes, S, S. 'The cleaner may be 
aJso formed of a cylender with g-rooves 
running- lengthwise in it for the re- 
ception of the brushes; or in any other 
way, which may be found convenient. 
The number of brushes in the clear- 
er is not material; but let it be ob- 
served that the distance from E to E, 
Fig. 1, between the brushes, must be 
at least 4 or 5 inches, otherwise the 
cotton will wind up 'round the clearer. 
The surface of the clearer moving 
jnuch faster than that of the cylender, 
the brushes sweep off the cotton-cotton 
from the teeth. The air put in motion 
by the clearer, and the centrifugal 
force of the cotton disengage it from 
the brushes. Xote. It is best to set 
the brushes in the grooves in such a 
manner, that the bristles will make an 
angle of about 20 or 25 degrees, with 
the diameter of the clearer, in the di- 
rection E, O, Fig. 1. By that means 
tht- bristles fall onore perpendicularly 
on the teeth, strike them more forci- 
bly, and clear off the cott'on more ef- 
fectually. 

The clearer is put in m.otion by the 
^j-iender, by means of a band and 



*(The brushes may be fixed in a 
stock which is movable by screws so as 
to bring them nearer or carry them far- 
xher froim the cylender.) 



456 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

whirls. These whirls are plain wheels 
of solid wood, about 2% or 3 inches 
thick, their periphery is a spherical 
surface swelling at the centre, and 
and sloping off at the edg-es. To g-ive 
them a proper shape, take a perfect 
globe of the same diameter as your 
intended whirl; inscribe upon it a cir- 
cle dividing it into two equal parts; 
then cut the globe on each side, paral- 
lel to the plane of the circle, and at 
the distance from it, of half the thick- 
ness of your whirl. On these whirls 
runs a leather band, the breadvh 
of which answers to the thickness of 
the whirls. The banid may be broader 
or narrcwer and the whirls thicker or 
thinner in proportion as the resistance 
to be overcome is greater or less. The 
rea'son for giving-giving the whirls this 
shape is to secure th'em the better 
from being unhanded. A band of this 
kind always inclines to the highest 
place on the whirl, and is miuch less 
liable to be cast off from the vvork, 
when it runs on a special surface, than 
when it runs in a groove in the peri- 
phery of the whirl. 

The whirls are four in number and 
must be so arranged as to make their 
central planes coincident. The whirl 
E, Pig. 3 is fixed upon the end of the 
axis of the cylender wlbhout the frame, 
and the button A, Fig. 5, is screwed 
on with the screw driver, B, to keep 
the whirl in its place. L is put upon 
the axis of the clearer in the same 
manner. P, Q, whose axes are pivots 
made fast in the frame, are false 
whirls added for two purposes. 1. To 



APPENDIX. 457 

ORIGINAI^ PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

make the clearer turn in a contrary 
direction from the cylender. 2. For the 
purpose of doubling the band more 
cojnpletely round the small whirl L, 
so as to bring a greater portion of the 
whirl's surface into contact with the 
band, increase the friction and conse- 
quently turn the whirl more forcibly. 
The first of these purposes might be 
accomplished by the addition of one 
false whirl, but the second not so ful- 
ly without two. The dotted line W, V, 
represents the band. The diameters of 
the whirls E, L, should be so-so pro- 
portioned as to produce a proper de- 
gree of velocity in the clearer. The 
axis of the whirl Q, is fixed in a plate 
of iron, which is movable in a groove 
in the side of the frame and the band 
is made tighter or looser by moving 
the plate. This arrangement of whirls 
produces the same movement as a cog 
wheel and pinion, with much less fric- 
tion and expence, and without the rat- 
ling noise, which is always caused by 
the quick m.oiion of cog wheels. 

5. One side of the hopper is formed 5th. One side of the hopper is 
by the breastwork, the two ends by the formed by the breastwork, the two 
frame, and the other side is m.ovable ends by the fraine, and the other side 
so that, as the quantity of cotton put is movable from and towards the 
in at one time decreases, it may slide breastwork, so as to make the hopper 
up nearer the cylinder, and make the more or less capacious, 
hopper narrower. This is necessary in 
order to give the seeds a rotary mo- 
tion in the hopper, by bringing themj 
repeatedly up to the cylinder till they 
are entirely stripped of the cotton. D, 
Fig. 1, is a section of the movaible part 
of the hopper. The part from H to I 
should be concave on the side next the 



45^ APPiiNDIX. 



ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT, 

breastwork, or rather it should be a 
portion cf a hollow cylender. Bet\ve3n 
H and Y, is a crate of wire through 
which the sand, and the seeds as soon 
as they are thoroughly cleansed, fall 
into a reiceptacle beliow. The crate 
may be either fixed in the-the frame 
or connected with the •mov'a.ble part of 
the hopper. The wires of which the 
crate is made should be large and 
placed perpendicular to the cylender, 
that the cotton may turn the more 
easily in the hopper. 

A few additional remarks will suf- 
licien'tlj" shew the construction, use 

and operation of this machine. The The cotton is put into the hopper, 
cotton is put in the hopper, I, D, H, K, carried thro' the breasTMork by the 
A, U. S, Fig 1, in as large a quanci.y as teeth, brushed off from the teeth by 
the cylinder will put in mbtlon. Some of the clearer and flies off from the clear- 
the seeds become stripped sooner than er, with the assistance of the air, by 
others. If it be black seed cotton, the its own centrifugal force. The ma- 
seeds become smooth, will mos: of 
them fall through the crate as soon as 
they are clean, but a considerable part 
of the green seeds which thej- are thu« 
denominated from being covered with 
a kind of green coat, reisemibling vel- 
vet will continue in the hopper. It will 
not answer therefor to supply it grad- 
ually as the quantity in it diminishe'S, 
because the seeds will isioion grow cum- 
brous and by their constant interven- 
tion prevent the teeth from attaching 
ihemselves to the cotton so fast as they 
otherwise would, but one hopper full 
must be finished, the mo\ialole part 
drawn back, the hopper cleared of 
seeds and then supplied with cotton 
anew. 

There is a partition Y, W, under the 



APPENDIX. 459 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

cy lender on the left-left hand of which 

■or the .side beneath the ho'pper, the 

seeds fall, and the clean cocton on 

the other side. There inaj- be a recep- 
tacle for the clean cotton in the frame, 

but it is best to have an opening 

through the wall or partition into a 

contiguary room, then place the end of 

the machine against this opening and 

let the cotton fly into a close room; or 

it may fall through an opening in the 

floor into a room below. 
This machine may be turned by chine is turned by water, horses or in 

horses or water with the g-nearesi ease, any other way as is most convenient. 

It requires no other 'attendance, than 

putting the cotton into the hopper with 

a basket or fork, narrowing the hopper 

when necessary and letting out the 

.seeds after they are clean. One of its 

peculiar excellencies is, that it cleanses 

the kind called green seed cotton 

almost as fast as the black seed. If 

the machinery is moved by water it 

is thought it will diminish the usual 

labor of cleaning the green seed cotton 

at least forty-nine fiftieths. 

There are several modes of making 

the various parts of this machine, 

w^hich together with their particular 

shape and formation are pointed out 

and explained in a description with 

drawings, attested as the act directs 

and lodged in the office of the Secre- 
The foregoing is a description of the 

machine for cleansing cotton alluded 
to in a petitiion of the subscriber, dated 
Philadelphia, June 20th, 1793, and 
lodged in the office of the Secretary of 
State, all alleginfg that he, ihe sub- 
scriber, is the inventor of said ma- 



460 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

chine, and signifying his desire of ob- 
taining an exclusive property in the 
same. ELI WHITNErT. Lary of State. EL.I WHITNEY. 

Signed in presence of Signed in presence of 

CHAUN'CiST GOODRICH, 



CHAUNCET GOODRICH, 
Counsellor at Law, Hartford. 

JOHN ALLEtN, 
Counsellor at. Law, Litchfield. 

State of Connecticut, ss. City of New 

Haven. 

I, Ellzur Goodrich, Esq., Alderman 
for said City, and Notary Public, by 
lawful authority admitted and sworn, 
residing in said City, and by law au- 
thorized to administer oaths, do here- 
by certify, declare and make known to 
whom it doth or may concern: That 
at said City on the twenty-eighth day 
of October, one thiousand, seven hun- 
dred and ninety-three, Eli Whitney, 
of the county of Worcester, in the 
commonwealth of Massachusetts, now 
residing in said City, personally ap- 
peared before me, the said Alderman 
and Notary, and made solemn oath, 
that he does verily believe that he the 
said Whitney, is the true inventor and 
discoverer of the machine for ginning 
cc'tt'on, a description whereo-f is 
hereto annexed by-by me, the said Al- 
derman and Notary, by my seal iNotari- 
3l, and that he, the said Whitney, verily 
believes that a machine of similar con- 
struction hath never before been 
known or used. 

In testimony whereof, I, the said 
Alderman and Notary, have here- 
unto set my hand and seal at the 



Couns-ellor at Law, Hartford. 
JOHN ALLEN, 
Counsellor at Law, Litchfield, 

(Received and recorded May 2, 1841,. 
and Ex'd W. G. C.) 



APPENDIX. 461 



ORIGINAL PATENT. SUBSTITUTED PATENT. 

city aforesaid on the day above 
said. 
(L.S.) ELIZUR GOOIDRrCH, 

lAlderman and Notary Public. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
To all tio whom these Letters Patent 

shall come: 

Whereas, 'Eli Whitney, a citizen of (NOTE.— Corresiponding- clause oc- 
the State of Massachusetts, in the curs at the beginning of this paper.) 
United States hath alleged that he 
has invented a new and useful im- 
provement in the mode of ginning cot- 
ton, which improvement has not been 
known or used before his application, 
has made oath, that he does verily be- 
lieve that he is the true inventor or 
discoverer of the said improvement, 
has paid into the Treasury of the Unit- 
ed Stales, the sum of thirty dolLars, 
delivered a receipt for the same and 
presented a petition to the Secretary 
of State, signifying a desire of ob- 
taining an exclusive property in the 
said improvement, and praying that a 
patent may be granted for that pur- 
pose: These are therefore, to g-rant 
according to law, to the said Eli Whit- 
ney, his heirs, administrators or as- 
signs, for the term of fourteen years, 
from the sixth day of 'November last, 
the full and exclusive right and liber- 
ty of making', constructing, using and 
vending to others to be used the said 
improvement, a description whereof is 
given in the words of the said Eli 
Whitney, himself, in the schedule- 
schedule hereto annexed and is made a 
part of these presents. 

In testimony whereof, I have 



462 APPENDIX. 

ORIGINAL PATENT. 

caused the letters to be made pat- 
ent and the .Seal of the United 
(States to be hereunto affixed. 

Given under my hand at the city 
of Philadelphia, this fourteenth 
day of March, in the year of our 
•Lord, one thousand, seven hundred 
and ninety-four, and of the Inde- 
pendence of the United States of 
America, the eighteenth. 
(L. iS.) GEO. WASHrNGTO^N. 

By the President. 

HDM. RAXDOLPH. 

City of Philadelphia, to-wit: 

I do hereby certify that the fore- 
going Letters Patent were delivered to 
me on the fourteenth day of iMarch, in 
the year of our Lord, one thousand, 
seven hundred and ninety-four, to be 
examined. That I have examined the 
same, and find them comformable to 
]a\v. And I do hereby return the same 
to the Secretary of State, within fif- 
teen days from the date aforesaid, to- 
vvit: On this same fourteenth day of 
March, in the year aforesaid. 

WM. BRADiFORD. 
Attorney General, United States. 
The schedule referred to in these 
Letters Patent and making part of the 
same containing a description in the 
words of the said Eli Whitney him- 
self of an improvement in the mode of 
ginning cotton. 



APPENDIX. 



463 



Document IV. 

In Reply Please Refer to 
C. W. K. Letter No. 8348. 
AH eo.mmunications should 

be addressed to 

"The Commissioner of Patents, Wa;sh- 

inffton. D. C. 

Department of the Interior, 

UNiITED ST'ATES PATIE.NT OFFICE, 

Wasiliing-ton, D. C, January IS, 1901. 

Mr. D. A. Tompkinis, 

United States Industrial Commission, 
Bliss Building, Washington, D. C. 

Sir: — Your letter of the 14th ins:ant 
has been received, and in reply there- 
to the Commissioner directs me to say 
that on December 15, 1836, a fire de- 
stroyed the building in which the 
Patent Office was, with all the models 
and records and the library. By an 
act of March 3, 1837, pitaviaion wa5 
made to restore the specifications, 
drawings and models, by obtaining du- 
plicates of them from the persons pos- 
sessing the originals, for which pur- 
pose an appropriation of $100,000 was 
made. The whole number of models 
destroyed was about 7,000, and the 
records covered a.bout 10,000 inven- 
tions. The work of restoration contin- 
ued for twelve years, and $88,237.32 was 
expended out of the amount allowed. 
On September 24, 1877, the roof and 
model rooms and contents in tihe west 
and north wings of the building were 
destroyed by fire. About 87,000 models 
and 600,000 copies of drawings were 
ruined by fire and water. A full ac- 
count of this fire was published in the 
Official Gazette of the Patent Office 
on October 9, 1877. 

Very respectfully, 
E. V. SIHEPARD, Chief Clerk. 



Document V. 

CERTIFIED COPY OF BILL, OF IN- 
JUNCTION AGAINST FORT & 
POWELL FOR INFRIINGEMENT 
OF GIN PATENT. 

This paper is now on file in the United 
States Court House, Savanmah, G'a. 

To the honorable, the judges of the 
Circuit Court of the United States for 
the district of Georgia: 

Humbly eom.plaining shew unto your 
honors your orators, Eli Whitney, of 
the State of Connecticut, and Catha- 
rine Miller, and Lem.uel Kollock, ex- 
ecutors of the last will and testament 
of Phineas Miller, deceased, all citi- 
zens of the. United States: That by 
virtue of an act of the Congress of the 
United iStates entitled an act to pro- 
mote the progress of useful arts, and 
to repeal the act heretofore made for 
that purpose, passed the twenty-first 
day of February, in the year of our 
Lord, one thousand, seven hundred 
and ninety-three, letters patent 'were 
i.'';sued in the name of the United 
States, and bearing test by the presi- 
dent, thereof, on the fiourteenth day of 
February, in the year of our Lord, one 
thousand, seven hundred and ninety- 
four, whereby the United States of 
America did grant unto your orator, 
Eli Whitney, his heirs, administrators, 
and assigns, for the term of fourteen 
years, from the sixth of November, in 
the year of our Lord, one thousand, 
seven hundred and ninety-three, the 
full and exclusive right, and liberty of 
making, constructing, uJsing and vend- 
ing to others to be used, a certain new 
and useful improvement in the art of 
ginning cotton, which improvement 
had not before been iknOwn 'or used, 
whereof yiour oratcxr, Eli Whitney, was 
the original invento.r, the principle of 

which invention consists in the art of 
extracting the cotton from the seed by 



464 



APPENDIX. 



means of teeth comiposed of metal, 
which teeth are atta-ched to a cylender, 
on which they revolve, passing 
through g-rooves, or openings of a 
breastwork too narrow to admil the 
seed, through which grooves the cot- 
ton is carnied by the teieth and after 
passing tlhrough is brushed off from 
the teeth 'bya clearer or brush ; asby the 
said letters patent under the gireial s^eil 
of ihe United States, bearing date the 
said fourteenth day of March, seven- 
teen hundred and ninety-four, (a copy 
whereof is exhibit A, which your ora- 
tor prays may be talcen a part' of this 
bill) ^'ill more fully aippear. 

And your orators further shew that 
on t'he twenty-first day-day of June, in 
the year of our Lord, one thousand, 
seven hundired and ninety-four, one of 
your orators, Eli iWhitraey, being sopcs- 
sessed of, and entitled, to the exclusive 
right aboVe set forbh, by indenture 
bearing date on the day last men- 
tioned, by virtue of the fourth section 
of the before mentioned act, did assign 
and transfer unto PMneias Miller, one 
moiety, or half part, of the title and 
interest in said invenUon, which he, the 
said Bli Whitney had acquired and 
held, under, and by virtue of thie said 
Letters Patent, as by the said inden- 
ture, executed, and recorded in the 
office of the .Secretary of State, in pur- 
suance of said act, (a copy whereof is 
exiiiibit B) will more fuLly appear. And 
your orators further 6hew, that, by ar- 
ticles of copartnership, duly made and 
executed, by and between tSU Whitney, 
one of your orators, and Phineas Mill- 
er, (who hath lately departed this life) 
it was, on the twenty-first day of June, 
in the year last aforesaid, agreed that 
all concerns which in any way re- 
spected the employment or disposal, of 
the invention and improvement in gin- 
ning cotton above set forth, should be 
conducted under the firm of Miller & 
Whitney, and that by virtue of the 
said deed of assignment and arti- 



cles of copartnership and of the afore- 
said statute the said Phineas Miller 
became interested with a joint inter- 
est in the invention and in the exclu- 
sive right thereto attached by the said 
Letters Patent, and that by virtue 
thereof, the said Phineas Miller, in his 
life lime, was, and your oirtators, ex- 
ecutors of the last will, and testament, 
of the said Phineas, since his death, 
now are placed on the same flooting 
with the said Eli Whitney, the original 
inventor, both as to right and respon- 
sibility. And your orators further 
shew to your honors, that by the act 
of the United States, above stated, and 
also by an act passed the seventeenth 
day of April, in the year eighteen hun- 
dred, entitled an act to extend the 
privilege of obtaining patents for use- 
ful discoveries and inventions to cer- 
tain persons therein mentioned, and to 
enlarge and define the penalties for 
violating- the rights of patentees', it is 
made and declared unlawful where a 
patent shall be or shall have been 
granted, pursuant to either of the said 
acts, for any person 'without the con- 
sent of the patentee, his or her execu- 
tors, admAnistratOns or assigns first oo- 
tained in writing to make, de- 
vise, use or sell, the thing whereof the 
exclusive right is secured to said pat- 
entee by such patent. And your ora- 
tors further shew, that, by virtue of 
the aforesaid statutes, and, by the 
sanction and authority of the afore- 
said Letters Patent, Eli Whitney, one 
of your orators, and the said Phineas 
Miller, in his life time, were, and your 
orators, that is :osay, thesaiidEli Whit- 
ney survivor, as aforesaid, and the 
said Catharine Miller and Lemuel Kol- 
lock, executors of the said Phineas 
Miller, now are and continue to be in- 
vested with and eritibled unto, and ought 
of right to have hold and peaceably 
enjoy the exclusive right and privilege 
of making, devising, using and selling 
to others to be used, gins constructed 



APPENDIX. 



465 



on the plan and according to the prin- 
ciples of the said invention for the 
term of years limited by the said pat- 
ent, according to the true intent and 
meaning- of the acts ot Congress and 
Letters Patent, as above stated. And 
your orators charge that no machine 
of a similar construction to the one for 
which the said Eli Whitney hath ob- 
tained a patent was ever invented, or 
used in the United States, Georgia, or 
elsewhere for ginning cotton, until in- 
vented by the said Eli Whitney; on the 
contrary, the only mode, meihod and 
de\'ice, used in Georgia, or elsewhere 
for extracting g-reen seed as well as 
black seed co.ton from the seed, 
was toy roller gin's, which are en- 
tire dissimilar in their principles from 
the present machine of your orator. 
And your orators do further shew to 
ycur honors, and expressly chaxgie that 
Arthur Fort and John Powell, who are 
citizens oif the State of Georgia, not re- 
garding the right thus constitutionally 
and legally vested in the said Eli 
Whitney and Phineas Miller, their rep- 
resentatives and assigns have pro- 
cured, and since the seventeenth day 
of April, in the year eighteen hundred, 
have used and still continue to use a 
machine for ginning or cleaning cotton, 
upon the principle of the said improve- 
ment and invemtion, that is to say, a 
m.achine-machi-ne for exbriacting cotton 
from the seed by melans of metal- 
lic teeth or points, attached to, 
and revolving on a cylender and pass- 
ing through grooves or openings of a 
Tjreastwork, too narrow to admit the 
seed, through which grooves the 
cotbon is caiTied by the teieth, and 
after passing through is brushed off 
from the teeth by a cleaner or brush, 
without the license, assent, or permis- 
sion of the said Eli Whitney, or of the 
said Phineas Miller, in his life time, 
or of the executors of the said Phineas 
Miller, since his death. And your or- 
-ators further shew that your orator, 



Eli Whitney, and the said Phineas 
Miller, in his life time, have often ap- 
plied to the said Arthur Fort and 
John Powell in a friendly manner, so- 
llciting them to desist from the use 
of the said machine, and the infraction 
of the said exclusive right, not having 
obtained a license, or permission from 
your orator and the said Phineas to 
use the same. And your orator and 
the said Phineas well hoped that the 
said Arthur Fort and John Poiwell 
would have ceased to use the said ma- 
chine and have made compensation to 
the said patentees for the violation of 
their patent right, as in justice and 
equity they ought to have done. 

But now so it is, may it please your 
honons, th'at the said Arthur Fort and 
John Powell, combining and confeder- 
ating with divers other persons, yet 
unknown to your orators, 'whose 
names when discovered, your orators 
pray may be inserted in this bill, with 
apt words to charge them, designing 
and intending to oppose the constitu- 
tion of the United States, as well as 
the goye'rnment and laws estahlished 
and enacted under its sanciiton, and 
for this purpose designing by their 
papulair hut evil example to induoe and 
promote a gener'al violation of their 
exclusive right among the citizens of 
the (Sitate of Georgia and thereby de- 
prive the patentees of its advantages, 
have by some fraudulent, surrep'titious 
means, unknown to your orators, ob- 
tained, and do continually without any 
license or permission from the paten- 
tees, use the invention for separating 
cotton from the seed above set forth, 
whereof the exclusive right is vested 
in your orators, as aforesaid. And that 
the said Arthur Fort and John Powell 
do absolutely refuse to discontinue the 
use thereof, at some times pretending 
that the machine above described is 
not a useful invention, that, for this 
reason the patent was fraudulently ob- 
tained, and ought to be disregarded in 



466 



APPENDIX. 



a court of equity. Whereas, your ora- 
tors do allege and charge, chat the in- 
vention and improvement aforesaid, 
was tJie first and original method in- 
vented for separating the species 
which is termed the green seed cotton 
from the seed, that until this invention 
was brought into use the species of 
cotton was not, and could not be ex- 
tensiv'ely cultivated for want of a 
mode of separating it from the seed, 
and that the success of this invention 
alone has induced and promoted the 
culture of that staple, by which the 
citizens o.f the Southern tSates, have 
within a few years past been greatly 
enriched. And at other times the said 
defendants and their confederates pre- 
tend, that the said machine was not 
originally invented by the said Eli 
Whitney, but was^ In use before the 
said Letters Patent were issued. 
Whereas, the fact is, and your orators 
express'ly charge, that the principle of 
the said machine, and the mode of ap- 
plication above stated, and particular- 
ly defined in the description annexed 
to the said Letters Patent, were orig- 
inally invented and discovered by the 
said Eli Whitney. At other times they 
pretend that the said Eli Whitney, one 
of your orators, obtained the said Let- 
ters Patent for the discovery of some 
other person, whereas, your orators 
allege that the contrary is true and 
that the said defendants and their con- 
federates have not, with all their ex- 
ertions and researches to injure your 
orators, been able to produce any dis- 
covery which is materially similar 
even in principle, and much less in the 
application of principle to the purpose 
and use designated by the said Letters 
Patent. And it is also pretended 
by the said defendants and their con- 
federates that the machine used by 
them contains in it an improvement 
in the principle of the machine invent- 
ed by the said Eli Whitney, of which 
your orators have the exclu.sive right, 



that is to say teeth cut into circular 
pieces of metal, instead of teeth made 
from wire, inserted into the cy lender. 
Whereas your orators charge that if 
such alteration is an improvement in 
the principle yet it does not entitle the 
inventor of such improvement nor any 
other person to use the machine orig- 
inally invented. And whereas also 
your orators charge that the alteration 
above stated makes no alteration or 
improvement in the principle, but is 
merely a change in the form of that 
part of the machine, and. that in the 
operation of the machine the effects 
of the points or teeth indented into sol- 
id pieces of metal is precisely the same 
as that of teeth composed of wire and 
inserted in the cylender. And the said 
defendants and their confederates set 
up various pretenses unjustly and un- 
lawfully to use said invention, in vio- 
lation of the patent right of your ora- 
tors, and at the same time to destroy 
the benefits which otherwise would re- 
sult from the same. All which actions, 
and doings and pretenses of the said 
Arthur Fort and John Powell and their 
confederates are contrary to equity 
and good conscience and tend to the 
manifest injury of your orators. In, 
consideration wherof and, for as much 
as your orators cannot restrain the 
said Arthur Fort, and John Powell 
from the unjust use of the said inven- 
tion without the aid and interference 
of the equitable jurisdiction of this 
honorable court. And as the said Ar- 
thur Fort and John Powell use the 
said machine in a secret and clandes- 
tine manner so that your orator can- 
not have the benefit of a full and ef- 
fectual remedy at common law against 
the said Arthur Fort and John Powell 
and their confederates for want of 
proof of such use and infringement, 
and of the actual injury sustained 
thereby, to the end therefore that the 
said Arthur Fort and John Poiwell and 
their confederates when discovered,. 



APPENDIX. 



467 



may make full, true and perfect an- 
swers upon their several and corporal 
oaths, to all and eingulair th^e matters 
herein alleged, as fully and particular- 
ly as if the same were herein ag-ain 
repeated, and they thereunto inlerro- 
gated, and more especially that the 
said Arthur Fort and John Powell may 
respectively answer, 'whether they 
have not used a machine constructed 
upon the principle above set forth, for 
the purpose of separating cotton from 
the seed, that is to say, a machine for 
extracting- cotton from the seed, by 
means of metallic teeth, or points, at- 
tached to and revolving on a cylender, 
and passing through grooves or open- 
ings of a breastwork, too narrow to 
admit the seed, through which grooves 
the cotton is carried by the teeth and 
after passing through is brushed off 
from the teeth by a cleaner or brush, 
at which period they commenced the 
use of such machine, and -whether they 
continue to use the same. What quan- 
tity of cotton he has ginned therewith, 
of how many circle of teeth the said 
gin consisted, whether it is impelled 
by water, or by what other way. LA.nd 
the said Arthur Fort and John Powell 
may be restrained from the further 
use of said invention. 

May it please your honors to grant' 
to your orators the United States writ 
of subpoena to be directed to the said 
Arthur Fort and John Powell, com- 
manding them, under a certain penal- 
ty, therein to be inserted, personally 
to appear before the honorable the 
judges of the Circuit Court 'Of the 
United States for the district of Geor- 
gia, at Savannah, on the sixth day of 
May next, then and there to answer 
thf premises, and to stand to, and abide 
such order and decree therein, as to 
the said judges shall seem agHeeable 
to equity and good oonsciienlce. And 
may it also please your honors to 
grant unto your orators a writ of in- 
junction to be directed to the said Ar- 



thur Fort and John Powell, their 
agents, workmen and servants, com- 
manding and enjoining them and each 
of them under a penalty therein to be 
specified, to be levied on their goods 
and chattels-chattels, lands and tene- 
ments from henceforth altoigether to 
desist froim using the said machine and 
inrveTition. And your orators sihall ever 
pray, etc. 

JOHN Y. NO'EIL, 
otf Counsel with Oompt. 

Eli Whitney being duly sworn 
maketh oath that the matters of fact 
slated in this, his bill, as far as concern 
hi-E own act and deed are true of his 
own knowled.^'e and that What relates 
to the act and deed of ;any lother person 
or persiQins, he believes to be true. 

ELI WHITNEY. 

ISworn bo before me this 31st Jan- 
uary, 1805. 

H. M. STITES, Clerk. 

EiNDORSEMENT. 
District of Georgia, Circuit Court of 
the United States. In Equity. Eli 
Whitney and the Executors of Phineas 
Mi:ier, deceased, vs. Arthur Fort and 
John Powell, esquires. Bill of injunc- 
tion. 

Filed 16th of March, 1804. \Noel. 

Decree for perpetual injunction vs. 
Powell, 13th May, 1806. 

Decree for same vs. Arthur Fort, 19th 
December, 1806. Stites, Clerk. 

FORT'S ANSWER. 

IN THE .SIXTH CIRlCfUlT (OOUKT. 
BILL. FOR ENJUlNtCITION. 

Eli Whitney and the Executors of 
:ph'ineas M.iller, Complainants, and 
Arthur Fort and John Powell, De- 
fendants. 

The answer of Arthur Fort, one of 
the defendants to the bill of complaint 
of Eli Whitney and the Executors of 
Phineas Miller, complainants. 



468 



APPENDIX. 



The defendant, Arthur Fort, saving 
and reserving to himself now and at 
all times hereafter all and all manner 
of benefit of and advantage of excep- 
tions to the manifold uncertainties and 
imperfections in the complainant's 
said bill contained, for answer thereun- 
to, or unto so m'Uch theneof asmaterial- 
ly eoncernis this defendiant to maike an- 
siwer unto, he answereth and saith, 
That he believeth it to be true that the 
said Eli Whitney did obtain Letters 
Patent for the right of making, using, 
constructing and vending to others to 
be used a certain machine purporting 
to be a new and useful improvement 
in the art of ginning cotton, and that 
he did transfer one moiety of his right 
thereunto unto the said Bhineas Miller, 
as stated in the bill of comiplaint of the 
said complainants; and also that an 
act was passed on the 17th aay of 
April, iSOO, to the intent and purport 
expressed in the said bill of complaint, 
but this defendant denies it to be true 
that the machine pretended to be in- 
vented by the said Elli Whitney was a 
useful one because as he hath been in- 
formed the cotton ginned or cleaned 
thereby was materially injured in its 
staple and texture. This defendant 
admits that it doth not come within 
his knowledge that any machine on 
similar prlnci'ples was used in Georgia 
or elsewhere for the ginning of cotton, 
but he hath been informed and doth 
verily believe that a machine con- 
structed on similar principles, though 
somewhat different in its formation 
had been known and in use in Europe 
previous to the time of the said Eli 
Whitney's obtaining his patent, al- 
though it might have been applied to 
a different purpose than that of gin- 
ning cotton. 

This defendant also admits that he 
did not know of any other mode of gin- 
ning coittion-ootton used in Georgia pre- 
vious to the time of Oibtaininig the siaid 
paient, other ithan that 'of rollers. 



This defendant admits that he ha>h 
since the 17t,h of April, 1800, and a 
considerable time previous thereto, 
used a machine for the purpose of gin- 
ning cotton consisting of circular me- 
tallic plates fastened on a square iron 
axis, with teeth, cut in the periphery 
of the plates, and a brush to detach 
the cotton from the teeth, but he de- 
nies that the same is in form similar 
to that of the Patentee, according to 
the best of his information, having 
never seen one of the maohinespretend- 
ed to be invented by Eli Whitney, but 
whethter there is any or what similarity 
in principle, he cannot say — because 
having never seen the machine of the 
Patentee and not being sufficiently 
skilled in mechanics he cannot be posi- 
tive. 'The defendant denies that he 
hath been requested to desist to use 
his machine otherwise than by having 
been sued and harassed and perplexed 
by the complainants in an action on 
the common law side of this honora- 
ble Court, and by the present bill of 
complaint on the equity side thereof. 
This defendant denies that his exam- 
ple has induced a general violation of 
the rights of the patentees; on the 
contrary he is inclined to believe that 
if any infringement has been made on 
the rights of the patentees that it has 
been occasioned by the avarice of 
themselves and agents or some of 
them. This defendant hath already 
answered and said that he does not 
believe the machine for which the 
patent was obtained is a useful one, 
and that he doth believe that a ma- 
chine constructed on similar principles 
was known in Europe previous to the 
time of obtaining the said patent. And 
this defendant also saith. That teeth 
cut in circular meitallic plates is in his 
opinion, a very considerable improve- 
ment. This defendant denies that he 
hath used his machine in a secret or 
clandestine manner, but that on the 
contrary he has never refused any per- 



APPENDIX. 



469 



sons the liberty of inspecting or exam- 
ining his machines, and that his gin- 
hciuse at all times at which his 
machine was at work hath been open 
for the admission of such persons as 
had business therein or chose to enter 
thereinto. That the complainants 
might have well had their action if to 
(any such they were eniitJed CWhich this 
defendant doth not admit) against 
him at common law, and that in truth 
the said Eli "Whitney, and the said 
Phineas Miller in his life time insti- 
tuted a suit on the common law side 
of this honorable courr for an infringe- 
ment of their patent, but which they 
failed to prosecute. That he hath 
used a machine for cleaning cotton 
constructed as he hath already de- 
scribed for seven years or upwards, 
but he cannot say for the reasons al- 
ready mentioned, and also on account 
of not seeing the Letters Patent, 
whether the said machine used by him 
is constructed on the same principles 
as that of the Patentees, and this de- 
fendant continues to use the same. 
This defendant is unable to say what 
quantity of cotton he hath ginned with 
his machine, as he did not keep any 
account thereof. That his machine 
consists of forty-six circles of teeth, 
and is impelled by water. And this de- 
fendant denies all and all manner of 
confederacy and combination where- 
with he stands charged in and by the 
said bill of complaint, without that, 
that there is any other matter or 
thing material or necessary for this 
defendant to make answer unto, and 
not herein and hereby well and suf- 
ficiently answered unto confessed or 
avoided, traversed or denied, is true. 
All of which matters and things this 
defendant is ready to aver and prove 
as this honorable court shall direct 
and award, and humbly prays to be 
hence dismissed, with his reasonable 
costs in this behalf most wrongfully 
sustained. 

J. HAMriX,. 
Sol. for Deft. 



Sixth Circuit Court, District of Geor- 
gia. 

Arthur Port being duly sworn 
maketh oath and saith, that what is 
contained in the foregoing answer as 
far as concerns his own act and deed 
is true of his own knowledge, and that 
what related to the act and deed of 
any other person or persons he be- 
lieves to be true. 

ARTHUR FORT. 

iSubscribed by the above named Ar- 
thur Fort in my presence and sworn 
to before me this 17th day of Decem- 
ber, 1805. R. M. STITES, Clerk. 

E^PDORISEMENT. 

Sixth Circuit Court. E. Whitney 
and Executors of Phineas Miller vs. 
A. Fort and J. Powell. Answer of A. 
Fort, Filed 19th Debember, 1805. 
Stites, Clerk. Hamill, (Solicitor. 

POWEL'S ANSWER. 
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 
UNITiED STATES, DISTR.ICT OF 
GEORGIA. 
Eli Whitney, surviving copartner and 
executors of Phineas /Miller, com- 
plainants, vs. Joihn Powell, defendant. 
In Equity. 

The answer of John Powell, defend- 
ant in. the above case. This defendant 
saving and reserving to himself all 
and all manner of exceptions to the 
manifold errors and imperfections in 
the bill of complaint of said complain- 
ants, for answer thereunto or unto so 
much thereof, as he is advised is ma- 
terial for him to make answer unto, 
he answereth and saith. That he ad- 
mits that a patent was obtained by Ell 
Whitney, one of the complainants, for 
the invention of a cotton gin, or a ma- 
chine for cleansing and separating 
cotton from its seeds, at the time and 
in the manner set forth in the bill of 
said complainants, and he admits it to 
be true that he hath heard and be- 
lieves the said Eli Whitney did after- 



470 



APPENDIX. 



wards transfer and assign to Phineas 
Miller, now deceased, a moiety of the 
©aid invention, and the rights at- 
tached thereunto, under the patent 
aforesaid, and he admits it also to be 
true that, said Phineas Miller did by 
his last will and testament nominate 
and appoint Catharine Miller and L/em- 
uel Kollock, executors thereof. This, 
defendant also admJts it to be true 
that, he does hold, use and occupy a 
machine or gin for cleaning cotton, 
commonly called a saw gin; that the 
said gin has a wooden frame, and a 
breast, made of pieces or straps of 
iron, placed at such a distance from 
each other, as to admit the teeth of 
circular metallic rows to pass through 
the grooves of said breast, that there 
is a revolving cylender on wthich at 
regular disitances from each othier are 
placed clrculair metallic inon plates, 
containing teeth, all cut and inclined 
one way; these teeth pass when re- 
volving between the slraps or pieces of 
iron affixed to, or forming the breast, 
and separate the cotton placed 'within 
the hopper from its seeds; that it con- 
tains a brush made of the bristles of 
hogs, affixed to a cylender revolving in 
a contrary direction to the one con- 
taining the circular metallic plates or 
saws, and detaches the clean cotton 
from the saws 'Or teeth. The machine 
is put in motion by a whirl fastened 
to the axis of the cylinder first men- 
tioned, round which is a band and 
propelled by horse. This defendant 
denies all unlawful "combination with 
'Which he stands charged without that, 
there is any other matter or thing ma- 
terial or necessary for this defendant 
to make answer unto and not herein 
and hereby well and sufficiently an- 
swered unto, confessed or avoided, tra- 
versed or denied is true. :S. JONES, 
Solicitor for Defendant. 

Jefferson County, ss. 
John Powell of Louisville, practi- 



tioner of physic, being duly sworn 
m.aketh oath and saith that the facts 
set forth in his foregoing answer is 
true, so far as the same concerns his 
o'wn act and deed, and what rests on 
the knowledge of others, he believes 
to be true. JNO. POWELL. 

.Sworn to and subscribed before me 
1st May, 1805. 

M. SHELMAN, J. J. Ct. 

ENI>ORiSHMEIXT. 
Bli Whitney and Executors, Miiller vs. 
A. >Fbrt and J. Powell. Answer of J'ohn 
Powell. iFiled 6th May, 1805. Stites, 
Clerk. 

Arthur i^'ort vs. Miller and Whitney, 
Case 9. 

And the said Arthur Fort by Robert 
Watkins, his attorney, comes and de- 
fends the wrong and injury, w^hen &c., 
and saith that he is niot guilty of he 
premises above charged 'on him aigainst 
'he form of the statute ai:oresald as the 
said Phineas and Eli have above 
against him complained and of this he 
puts himself upon the country, &c. 
WATKINS, 
Defendants' Attorney. 
R. M. :STTTE;S, Clerk. 

9. A. Fort ads. Miller, &c. Plea 
filed. 

Circuit Court, Geoi-gia. 

D)ECREIE FOR I/NJUNCTION. 

E,li Whitney, et al, vs. Arthur Fort. 

Bill for injunction. 

This cause came on to be heard this 
19th day of December, eighteen hun- 
dred and six, before the Honorable 
Wm. Johnson and the Honorable Wm. 
Stephens, on bill, answer, replication, 
testimony and exhibits, in behalf of 
the complainants. 

■V^'hereupon it is ordered, adjudged 
and decreed that the injunction prayed 
for by the complainants in their bill be 
.granted them and that the same be 



APPENDIX. 471 

made perpetual, and that the defend- Document VI, 

finl pay the costs of this bill. 

Dated at Louisville, this 19th day of CERTIFIED COPY OF HODQEN 
December, A. D., 1806, and in the 31st HOLMES' PATENT FOR 

year of American Independence. caw r^iM innA 

WILDIAM JOiHNSOX, JR. i>AW UlIN, 1796. 

TVM. STEPHENS. jhis paper is now on file in the Uuited 

EINDORiSEjVTBIXT. States Court House. Savannah, Ga. 

Georgia 6th Circuit Court. Whitney, c.„^„„|j*:^„*.^„ ^e *i r> * * « u ^ 

, , . ,, _,,,-, - -_, fcxemphfication of the Patent of Hod- 

et al, vs. Arthur Fort. Decree for Per- 
petual Injunction 19lh December, 1806. gen Holmes. 

Ent. page 13 and 14. STITE'iS, Clerk, rpv, tt •• ^ o^ * 

The United States of America. 

X'OTE. The woTds in the various doc- To all to whom these Detters Patent 
uments which are repeated at inter- 

vals, thus-thus, are supposed to be the ^^ali come: 

words which were formerly repeated at Whereas, Hodgen Holmes, a citizen 
the bottom of the page. The clerk in 

making the ceiftified copy -muist have '^f the Snate of deorgia, in the United 

copied these words verbatim. States, hath alleged that he has in- 

D. A. T. 

vented a new and useful improvement, 

to-wit, new machinery called the cot- 
ton gin, which improvement has not 
been known, or used before his appli- 
cation, has made oath that he does 
verily believe that he is the true in- 
ventor or discoverer of the said im- 
provement, has paid into the Treasury 
of the United States, the sum of thir- 
ty dollars, delivered a receipt for the 
same, and presented a petition to the 
Secretary of State, signifviing a desire 
of obtaining an exclusive property in 
the said improvement, and praying 
that a patent may be granted for that 
purpose: These are therefore to grant 
according to law, to the said Hodgen 
Holmes, his heirs, administrators, or 
assigns, for the term of fourteen years, 
from the nineteenth day of the month 
of Apri'l last past, the full and exclu- 
sive right and liberty of making, con- 
structing, using and vending to others 
to be used the said improvement, a de- 
scription whereof is given in the words 



472 APPENDIX. 

of the said Hodg-en Holmes hiiniself in lowing manner, iviz: Tbe whole ma- 

the schedule hereto annexed and is chine Ostianding on the flO'Or) is made of 

made a part ol these presents. wo'od, six feet, six inches wide, Ave feev 

In testimony whereof, I have caused long and five feet hig/h, by putting this 

these letters to be made patent and machine in motion for use of the before 

the seal of the United States to be mentioned purpose, is to be done by the 

hereunto affixed. Given under my hand following direction: 

at the city of Philadelphia, this The cylender frlo^m eight to fourteen- 
twelfth day of May in the year of our inches in diam^eter, and six feet long 
LfOrd, one thousand, seven hundred with one row of teeth, to one inch, 
and ninety-six, and of the Independ- which runs on twb iron gudgeon®, ihe- 
ence of the United Stales of America feeder from eight to twelve inches li- 
the twentieth. ameter, with two rows of wireB of one- 
,By the President, inch, and six feet long and runs >on two 
GEORIGE WASHINGTON. iron gudgeons, the brush from seven to 
TIMOTHY PICKHRING, twelve inches in diameter, and six feet 
(L. S.) Secretary of State. ion>g, with two iron gudgeons to each 
City of Philadelphia, lo-wit: cylender, from thnee-quart^ers of an. 

I do hereby certify that the fore- inch to one inch thick, 

going Letters Patent were delivered to HODGEN HOLMES. 

me, on the twelfth day of May, in the Teste, W. Urquhart. .Seaborn Jones, 

year of our Lord, one thousand, seven Depairtment of State, to- wit: 

hundred and ninety-six, to be exam- j hereby certify that the foregoinig- 

ined, that I have examined the same, Letters Patent from the United States 

and find them comformable to law, ^^ Hodgen Holmes are a tru>e copy of 

and I do hereby return the same to the ^j^^ original on record in this Deparr- 

Secretary of State within fifteen days rn,pj,*. 

from the date aforesaid, to-wit; on ^.^,^^ ^^^^^ my tend and seal of jf- 

this tweltfh day of May, in the year ^^^ ^^^ twenty-first day of October, 

aforesaid. CHARLES LEE, ^-g- 

Attorney General. (ggai.) TTiMOTHT PICKERING. 



The schedule leferred to in these Let- 



NOTE. — This document gives Holmes 
ters Patent and making part .of the a residence in Georgia. Augusta, Ga., 
same containing a descripiiion in the was the actual place referred to. It 

appears from other accounts of Holmes 
VMOrds of the said Hodgen Holmes him- that he sometimes lived in Hamburg, 

self of an i'mpilovement, to-wit: new S- ^v' which was a town in Edgefield 

county, on the opposite side of the 
machinery called the cotton gin. Savannah river from Augusta. This 

explains why Holmes is frequently re- 

EXPLANATION OF THE WHOLE ferred to as being from South Caro- 

MACHINERT. Una. 

^, . , . „ , . ^. His legal citizenship was probably 

This machinery for cleanmg cotton sometimes in Georgia and sometimes 

from the .seed, can 'be used in the fol- in South Carolina. D. A. T. 



APPENDIX. 



473 



Document VII. 

LETTER FROM PHINTEAS MILLER, 
OF MULBERRY GROVE, GA., TO 
HIS PARTNER, ELI WHITNEY, 
'NEW HAVEN, CONN., FEBRUARY 
15, 1797. 
This is oopied from "Oorrespondence of 
Eli Whi'ney, relative to the Inven- 
tion of the Cotton Gin." 
By M. B. Haim,m'ond In The Amerioan 
Historical Review, October, 18i)7. 

Mulberry Grove, Feb. loth, 1797. 
DEAR WHITNEY: The mystery of 
your silenoe is unrav'elled and I am 
much rejoiced— 'duiing my afb£ence to 
the upper country your letters of 17 and 
27 Nov., the 15th and 20th of Diec. and 
6th Jan. came to hiand. Not one of the/se 
reached here until the latter part of 
January, the letters by Bontaoee hiad 
carelessly been retained by the person 
who brought ohcm. 

Your advice respecting- the mistake 
most pr'obiably comimitted by the Rhode 
Island Factory is agreieable. My anxi- 
eties on this subject are iCept aiwak'e by 
the large sum w'e have at stake. Yoti 
are lalm'ost surprised that my oon- 
fidence should 'be .shaken; the people 
here are surprised that it sTiould not be 
entirely destroyed. 

I think your advice good respecting 
keeping a supply of coiton ac New 
Haven land New York. I have only been 
prevented frtom pinching necessilies 
doing this heretofore, and shall proceed 
a-5 much (as my funds will possibly ad- 
mit this winter. I h,ave indeed en- 
deavored to extend my credit to the 
purchase of 40 or 50 m. weight of cotton 
at the low price at whidh h is to be had 
at present— viz: $3.50, and for cash "-2 
per hundred. I Wave aU'o set on foot in 
common with Mr. Rupel a tnaific over 
the mountains to the distance of three 



hundred miles by land, which I think 
will enable us lo vend a few thousand 
weight of cotton very profitably. 

(For'tunate have we been in one in- 
stance among so ismaU a number if 
misfortunes in saving our cotton and 
samples of cotton at New York. The 
repeated disappointments which have 
yei prevented youir departure for Eng- 
land have become so frequent that they 
alm)ost cease to create surprise, and yet 
tin:: evil arising from the detention 's 
bj'' no means diminished. I really think, 
that it will not be best that Nightin- 
gale should engage with us until some 
Change in our affairs can be brought 
about. We require at present his as- 
sistance and I should wish to make him 
the most liberal recompense without 
subjecting him lo our misfortunes, in 
addition to his own. 

It will be best to take the deposi- 
tion of Goodrich and SteWbins on Ihe 
subject of ratchet wheels which may 
hereafter be rendered useful. I fear it 
cannot be had in vime foir our Court 
which will sit the last of April. The 
name of the Patentee for the surrepu- 
tious patent I think is Robert Holmes. 
The names of our defendants, Kenne- 
dy and Parker and Edward Lyons. I 
expected you would have procured and 
stnt on the copy of the patent which 
uas to be set 'aside. I shall now write 
for it myself. The order which was 
given to Adams for the saw mill crank 
was sufRcJently correct. I find by his 
letter that he understood it exactly as 
was intended — bui the difficulty arose 
from my omitting to explain the mode 
of our applying these cranks which did 
not appear to me necessary. It is now 
too late to make them— otheirs are pro- 
cured. 

With best wishes fljr your early de- 
parture and wiiih the regards of our 
family, I am truly your friend, 

PHINS. MILLER. 



474 



APPENDIX. 



Document VIII. 

LETTER PROM ELI WHTTNEY, 
NEW HAVEiN, CONN., TO JOSIAH 
STBBBINS, NE.W MTLPORD, DIS- 
TRICT OF MAINE, OCT., 15, 1803. 
This is copied from "HammomJ's Cor- 
respondence, above cited. 

New Haven, 15th Oct., 1S03. 
DEAR STEBBINS: The fates have 
decre'ed that I .shall be p-erpetually on 
the wing- and wild gijiose likie, spend my 
summers in the North and at the ap- 
proach of winter shape my course Tor 
the reg-ions of the South. Bui I am 'en 
unfortunate goose. Instead bf sub- 
limely touring thro' tihe aerial reg-ions 
with .a select corps of faithful oompan- 
ions, I must S'Olely wad'e thro' the mud 
and dirt a solitary irtaveller. 

While on my tour the last winter I 
wrote you several letters tio several of 
which I have reed, no answer. I wrote 
you a letter from the city of Washing- 
ton .almost a year since, in which I 
gpve you some acoount of Thos. Paine. 
I feel a little anxious lest this letter 
may 'hai'e miscarried. I wr'ote you a'.so 
liast spring- from Savannah (if I recol- 
lect rlg-htly) requesting some informa- 
tion relative to my linventlon of the cot- 
ton machine. I should be gratified lc< 
krow whether you reed, these letters or 
mot. 

I shall start frc^m fhere in fen days 
for South Carolina in order to be there 
at the meeting of the legislature of that 
State and expect bo return in January 
or February. A multiplicity of avoca- 
tions has prevented my writing yo'u for 
some lime past and it has ben sto long 
delayed that I fear I shall not be able 
to g-et an answer from you before I 
Commence my journey. 

I have still a host of the mO'St unpnin- 
cipl'ed scoundrels to combat in the 
Southern .States. I have not nbw leis- 
ure to g'o into detail but I want to en- 



quire of you if you cannot give your 
deposition to the following imptort, 
(viz:) 

I, Jos. Stebbins, &c., &c., db tes- 
tify and declare that I have been 
intimately acquainted with Eli Whit- 
ney, orig-inally of Massachusetts, 
but now of New Haven in the State of 
Connecticut, lor more than fourteen 
years. That the said Whitney dom- 
municated to me his discovery and in- 
vention of a machine for cleaning- cot- 
ter from its seed by means of teeth 
passtng between bars or ribs of a part 
which he called a breastwork, more 
than six months before he obtained a 
patent for said invention 2' That I saw 
sd. Whitney almost every day thro' the 
summer and autumn of the year 1793, 
at which time I was a resident gradu- 
ate in Yale Oolleg>e. That we had tnany 
ar.d frequent coniversations on the suHd- 
ject of mechanics and natural philoso- 
phy in g'eneral and particularly with 
reference to his said linveniion. That I 
transcribed his specifications or de- 
scription of said machine several times 
and that he conferred with me r3lati\''e 
to the various parts of said descrip- 
tion. And I well remember that said 
WhiSney repeatedly told me that he 
oiYgnally contemplated making a whole 
row of teeth from one plate or piece of 
metal such as tin plate or sheet iron 
and that he afterwards had recourse 
to wires to make the teeth from naces- 
sity, not having it in his power at that 
time to pnocure either tin or sheet iron 
lin Georgia. That in the first draCt of his 
specification he had mentioned sheet 
iron as a material out of which the 
teeth might be made but we concluded 
it was wholly unnecessary as it did in 
no way affect the principle of the ma- 
chine being- only one of a great variety 
of methods in which the tiee h mig-ht be 
made and it was struck out. I also 
recollect that the said Whitney previ- 
ous to writing a description of his in- 
vention had contemplated a variety of 



APPENDIX. 



475 



methods of making- each of the several 
parts of the rmachine but it was 
thought to be wholly immaterial that 
they should be mention^ed in the de- 
iscripti'jn, etc., etc. 

I hope you will be able to call to mind 
the circumstances menbioned above, not 
that ihey would be of any importance 
with an enli'g-hten'ied upright judge. 
The circumstance of making the teeth 
jof sheet iro^n is really of no account as 
it regards the principle and my right; 
hut as that is the method in which the 
trespassers make theimachines, they lay 
greai stress upon it, and if I can Taut 
prove the truth 'a'bout it, it will stop 
their mouth on this subject. I haive a 
se' of the most depraved villains lo 
cambait and I might lalmost as well 
gci to hell in search of happiness as ap- 
ply to a Georgia Court for justice. 

T fear that I have delayed writiing to 
you so long that I cannot get an an- 
swer from you before I leave this, 
which will be as early as the 2Sth of 
this montli. But I would thank you to 
lose no time in writing to m>e and direct 
to me at Columbia South Carolina- 
whatever your recollection will enable 
you to testify to, relative to the early 
history of my invention. I wish you 
tj forward to me a deposition signed 
and sworn to. I am sensible such a de- 
position will not 'be reed, in a court of 
law, there being no commission taken 
out to take the testimony but it will be 
very useful to me in some important 
arrangements whiicih I wish to make. I 
hope it will be convenient for you to 
write me soon after you receive this as 
any delay will dprive me of any benefit 
which I may derive from your deposi- 
tion. 

I shall not make any considerable 

stop before I reach Columbia in So. 
Carolina, which place I do not mow ex- 
pect to leave before the 20th of Decem- 
ber. Write me as imuch and often as you 
can. I shall have more leasure to write 
you while traveling than I have had 



the suni'mer past and you may expect 
to hear from me oooaisionaMy. 

My armoury here has got to be a reg- 
ular establishmbent and priogresses 
tolerably well, and 1 flatter myself I 
shall make something handsome by the 
undertaking. My works have consid- 
erably excited the public curiosity and 
are visited by most people who travel 
thro' this country, this however is not 
so flattering to my vanity that I d'o not 
wish to be less thronged with specta- 
tors. It would really g*ve much sincere 
pleasure and satisfaction fo see you here 
and shew what I have been d'oing for 
three or four years past. Cian jiou not 
visit us next summer? 

With best and most affectionate re- 
gards CO L»aura and ardent wishes for 
your (own) happiness, I am, have been 
and (shall be) 

Your sincere friend, 

E. WHITXEY. 

iJosiah Stebbins, Esq. 

Document IX. 

ABSTRACT OF LEG-ISUATIVE REC- 
ORDS, ON FILE IN STATE HOUSE 
COLUMBIA, S. C, RELATING TO 
THE PURCHASE BY THE STATE 
OF SOUTH CAROLINA, OF THE 
PATENT RIGHTS TO THE WHIT- 
NEY GIN. 

In the Senate, Dec. 1, 1I8OI, Major 
John Turner presented a petition from 
"Sundry Inhabitants of Richland 
County," praying that the State pur- 
chase for the free use of i s citizens, 
the patent right to the machine known 
as the "saw gin.' 

In the Senate Dec. 7, ISOl, Dr. Blythe 
of All Saints, presented a petition to 
the same eff?c fnom "Sundry Inhabi- 
tants of Kershaw County." The peti- 
tions were referred to a joint commit- 
tee from House and Senate, composed 
on the part of the Senate: 



476 



APPENDIX. 



Major John Turner of Richland Ooun- 
ty, Col. Joseph Calhoun of Aiblbeville 
County, Capt. Arthur Simpkins of 
Edgefield County, land on the part of 
the House: 

iMr. 'Taylor, Mr. Peter Porcher, Jr., 
Dr. Hanscome, General Robt. Ander- 
son, Mr. John Richardson. 

The Senate committee reported Dec. 
12, 1801: 

T'hat they have met a committee from 
the House of Repreisentatrves foir the 
•purpose appointed and "they have 
taken into their joint consideratlion the 
matters contained in said memorials, 
and havfe had full conference with Mr. 
Eli Whitney, one of the co-partners of 
Miller & Whitney, who claim the said 
patent for the exclusive use of the saw 
g-in for cleaning the staple of cotion 
from the seed within the United States. 
That the said Eli Whitney for himself 
and the concern of Miller i& Whitney 
has proposed as the lowest sum they 
will be willing to take for the patent 
right within the limit of the State the 
sum of $50,000. $20,000 to be paid as 
scion as the said Miller & Whitney shall 
make a legal transfer of the same lo 
the State or its agent. $15,000 on Sept. 
1st and $15,000 on the ISth day of Sept., 
which will be in the year 1803." 

"That taking into eonsid'ei^ation the 
immense advaniages which have re- 
sulted, and which will result to this 
State from this most ingenious and 
useful discovery, 'as well as the sacri- 
fices which the inv'e'ntor has made in 
puTiSuing and perfecting this great un- 
dertaking, as well also as the certainiy 
that if the patentees pursue their right 
against individuals, a much g'reater 
sum would be likely to accrue to them, 
perhaps four times the amount at pres- 
ent, without taking into view the cer- 
tain increase which will toe made to the 
number of machines now in use — 
adding also to these consideraiions the 
great propriety of preventing the im- 



mense expense of litigation to our cit- 
izens on this subject — and that it is be- 
coming and dignified in the Stale to 
take by the hand, encourage and foster 
by its liberality the useful arts. 

"They therefore resolved, that leave be 
given to bring in a bill for the purpose 
of purchasing from Messrs. Miller & 
Whitney, their patent right to the 
m'aking, using and vending the sa'V 
machine within the limits of this State 
and for compensating them for ihe 
same. 

"They further neaotmmend that a tax 
should be laid on thesaimeniachinesnow 

in the State to the amount of for 

every saw or round or row of teeth in 
the said machines for the purpose of 
defraying the second installment of the 
aforesaid purchase to be made; and 
that it be considered that the tax upon 
these machines be pledged for the pur- 
pose of reimbursing the State for the 
purchase to be made aforesaid." 

ORDERED 

that the report be consid'ered on Mon- 
day next. 

O'n Dec. 14, 1801, the Senate agreed to 
the committee report and returned 
same to com'mittee to hring in a bill in 
conformity thereto. This bill waa 
'Drought in and passed Dee. 16, 1801, and 
sent to the House. 

The bill provided that Miller & 
Vv'hitney should make a legal transfer 
of the right and title to his patent for 
the State of South Carolina, and that 
they should refund to citizens of the 
State all sums which they had collect- 
ed therefrom for licenses, and that they 
should deliver "within a reasonable 
time" at the State House, tw)o im- 
pi*oved models of the gin. 

On making the legal transfer, Mr. 
Paul Hamilton, Comptroller General of 
the State, made his warrant on the 
treasury for the cash payment, $20,000. 

General Charles Cotesworth Pinkney, 
of Charleston, was a member of this 



APPENDIX. 



477 



Senate. He was one of Whitney's early 
friends in the South. Another member 
of this Seinate was Mr. Henry I>a,na 
Ward, from Orangeburg County. He 
had been a class-mate of Whianey's at 
Yale College. 

In the Senate Nov. 37, 1S02, Oapt. Ar- 
thur Simpkins of Edgefield County, 
presented a petition fnom William Fos- 
ter, T'ayloT, praying that the Stia<:e I'e- 
fund him the money, $180, which he had 
paid Miller & Whitney as a license to 
operate a saw gin. This petition was 
referred to the same comimittee that re- 
ported on thie purchase at the preced- 
ing session, with instiructions to confer 
with the OoimptroUer, Tliey report 
Dec. 15, 1802, that ihe Comptroller had 
not made the second payment on the 
gin patent, and that he held the money 
subject to the action of the legislature. 
TTue petition was granted, and $180 re- 
funded Mr. Taylor. 

The regular House committee ap- 
pointed tio examine the Oo-mptroiller's 
annual report, say in their repori Dec. 
13, 1802, "on the subject of the saw gin 
that Messrs. Miller & Whitney have 
noi complied with their contract relat- 
ing thereto, they highly approve «he 
conduct of the Comptr'olleir in suspend- 
ing the payment 'of the second warrant 
and recammend that he be directed 
to take measures to compel Messrs. 
Miller & Whitney to reDumd the money 
received by them on account of ihe saw 
gin." 

On the same date the Senate com- 
mittee report: 

"Resolved, thai the legislature ap- 
prove of the conduct of the Ct>mp- 
troller, that lie be also directed to in- 
stitute such suit against the said Miller 
& Whitney, as may be necessary to try 
their right to the invention of the ma- 
chine." The m«mlbers of this commit- 
tee were Capt. John W^ard of Colleion 
County, Major Chas. Goodwin, of Win- 
ston, and Capt. Sam Warren of Santee. 



When the Comptroller's annual re- 
port came to the House again, Dec. 1, 
1S03, it mentioned the fact that the 
money was still with/held from Miller & 
Whitney, and that suits had ben insti- 
tuted against tWem. This ,paj-i of the 
■report was referred to the original saw 
gin committee. They did not report 
during that session. 

At ihe next session, Dec. 6. 1804, Eli 
Whitney presented a petition tb both 
House and 'Senate: "Praying thiat the 
Slate would receive two models of the 
saw gin and comply with their contract 
in the purchase of the petitioners' pat- 
ent right 10 the same." fThis iwas re- 
ferred to the same saw gin commit- 
tee. 

On Dec, 15, 1804, the Senate received 
t;he report of the joint committee as 
follows: 

"On the imost mature deliberation 
they are of opinion that Milder & Whit- 
ney, from w'hom the Sta;te of South 
Caii^olina purchased the patent right for 
using the saw gin within this State 
have used reasonable diligienoe to re- 
fund the money amd notes rieceived uy 
them from divers citizens and as from 
several unforeseen occurrences the said 
Miller & Whitney have heretofore been 
prevented from refunding the same. 
They iherefore, recommend that the 
money and notes aforesaid, be deposit- 
ed with the Ct-mpLroller General, to ue 
paid over on demand to the several 
persons from wholm the same have heen 
received upon their delivery of the li- 
cense for whi:;h the said notes of hand 
were given and said monies paid to the 
Comptroller Generail, that he be direct- 
ed to hold the said lidenses subject to 
the order of the said Whitney; that the 
excellent and highly improved models 
now offered by the said Whitney he re- 
ceived in full satisfaction of ihe stip-- 
uiations of the contract between the 
Slate aiid Mill«?r & Whitney, reQative to 
the same; and that the suit commenced 



4/8 



APPENDIX. 



by the State agiaans? the said Mil- 
ler & Whiitney be discontinured. The 
joint committee taking- every circum- 
stance alLeged in the nuemoirial into 
their serious consideraitton, further rec- 
ommend that (as the good faith of this 
Slate is pledged for the payment of the 
purchase of said patent rig'ht) the con- 
tract be now fulfilled, a^ in theiir opin- 
ion it oug-ht to be, according tlo the 
most strict justice and equity. And 
laU.hough from the documents ex'hitoited 
by said Whitney to the committee, they 
are of the opinion that the said Whit- 
ney is the true orig^inail inventor of the 
saw gin; yet, in order to guard the cit- 
zens from any injury thereafter, the 
committee recommend that before the 
remaining balance is paid, the said 
Whitney be required to give b'ond and 
security to the Co^mptroller General io 
indemnlify each and every citizen of 
South Carolina against the legal claims 
of all persbns whatsoever, other than 
the said Miller & Whitney to any pat- 
e^nt or exc/lusive right to the invention 
or improvement of the machine for 
separating cotton from its seeds, com- 
monly called the saw gin, in the form 
and uplon the principle which it is now 
and has heretofore ibeen used in this 
Slate. 

On the vote to adopt the report there 
was a tie vote, 15 to 15. The President 
of the Senate voted with the (regular 
members, and so he could not break the 
tie. The report waS therefore not 
adopted. 

On r>ec. 18, the House of Representa- 
tii\-es "voted to discontinue the suits 
against Miller & Whitney, and on 19th, 
iv voted to adopt the committee's re- 
port. This was reported to the Sen- 
ate, and they took another vote result- 
• ing in favor of the measure by 14 to 12. 

Mr. Whitney signed an indemnity 
bond on Dec. 27, 1804, to Thomas Dee, 
then Comptroller General. John Tay- 
lor, J. M. HoweH and Samuel Green, 
of Richland County, signed the bond 



with him. The money was then paid 
Mr. Whitney in full of the original 
contract. 

Document X. 

EXTRACT FROM MESSAGE RBDiAT- 
ING TO THE GIN MONOPODY BY 
GOVERNOR JAMES JACKSON TO 
LEGISLATURE OF GEORGIA, 

NOV. 3, 1800. 

* ill * 

And hei-ie I request your attention to 
the patent gin monopoly under the law 
of the United States, entitled, "An act 
to extend the privildge of ohtaining 
patents for useful discoveries and in- 
ventions to certain persfons therein 
mentioned and to enlarge and define 
the penalties for Violating the rights of 
patents." 

The operation of this law is t)he pre- 
vention and cramping of genius as it 
respects cotton machines, a manifest 
injury to the community and in many 
respects a cruel extortibn O'n the gin 
holders. The two imptortant States of 
Georgia and South Carolina where this 
article appears to be becoming the 
principal staple are made trioutary lo 
two parsons who have obtained the 
P'a tents and who demand, as I am in- 
flormed $200.00 for thie mere liberty of 
using a ginning machine, in the erec- 
tion of which the patentees do not ex- 
pend one farthing and which sum, as 
they now think their right secured, it is 
in their power in future licenses to raise 
to treble that amount from tlie infor- 
mation given me by a respectable mer- 
chant of this town, (Louisville, Ga.,) 
w^hose latter on that subject is marked 
No. 6. When Miller i& Whitney, the 
patentees, first distributed the machine 
o? their construction, they reserved the 
right of property of it and also two- 
thirds of the net proceeds of 
the gin, the expenses of working to be 
joint between the patentees atnd the 
ginners, finding however a defect in 



APPENDIX. 



479 



the law under which their Da.tent was 
olbliained they deterimined to sell the 
machines, tog^ether with their rigrhts 
vested in them lor $500.00 an(d foir a li- 
cerse to authorize a person to build 
and w'ork one at his own expense, 
$400.00, but findinig, as I suppose, that 
the defect of the law was g-eneTially un- 
derstood and that they co.uld g-ei no 
redress in the courts, they liowered the 
demanid to the present rate of $300.00 — 
tihat they miay raise it t^o the former 
rates is certain, and that they will do it 
unless public interference is had, there 
can be little doubt. I am informed 
from other so'urces that gins have been 
erected by other persons, w.ho have not 
taken Miller & Whitney's macihine for 
a model, but which in .siome small de- 
gree resemble it, and in improvements, 
far surpass it, for it has been asserted 
that Miller's and Whitney's gin did not 
on trial answer the intended purpose, 
the rights of these improvemen't how- 
ever, it appears by the present act, 
merged in tihe rights of the patentees, 
■who it is supposed on th'S lowest calcu- 
lation will make by it in the two (States 
$100,000. Monopolies are odious in all 
countries, but imore particularly tso in 
a government like ours. The gre'at 
law meteor, Coke, declared them 
contrary to the common and fun- 
damental Law of England, their tenderi- 
cv certainly to raise the price of the ar- 
ticle from the exclusive privileige — to 
render the machine or article worse 
from the prevention of aompetition and 
improvemient — and to impoverish poor 
aitifioers and planters Who are forbid- 
den from making-, vending or using it 
without license from the patentees, or 
in case of doing- sio, are made liable to 
penalties in &. court of law. 

The Federal Court docket, it is said 
is filled with these actions. I ido not 
doubt the power of Congress to giranc 
these exclusi)\-e privileg-es for the con- 
stitution has vested them with it, bat 



in all cases where they become injuri- 
ous to the community, 'they ought f> 
be suppressed, or the parties be paid ^ 
moderate compensation for the discov- 
eries from the g'overnment graoiting- the 
patent. The celebrated Dr. Adam 
Smith observed that monopolies ar'e 
supported 'by cruel and oppressive laws, 
such as is the operation at present ol 
the law on the subject — its weight lays 
on the poor industrious mechanic and 
planter. Congress, however, did not in- 
tend it so, for when the first law on th's 
head was passed in February, 1793, a 
few individuals only cultivated oottDn. 
and it was not dreamt of as about \o 
become the great staple of the two 
Southern States, a staple Mo, which if 
properly encouraged must take the de- 
cided lead of any other (bread kind 
excepted) in the United Staties— the 
steps proper to be taken to remedy this 
public grievance you will judge Of— Ibut 
I should suppose that our sister Sta.e 
of South Carolina w'o^uHd dheierfully 
join Georg:iia in any proper apiplioation 
to Congress on the subject. I am like- 
wise of opinion that the State of N'orth 
Carolina and Tennessee must be so far 
interested as to support such applica- 
tion — if you think with me, I recom- 
mend communicatibn with all of them. 



Document XI. 

WHIT'NEY'S REPDY TO GOV'ERN- 

■OR JACKSON'S LETTER. 
Copied froim 'The Columbian Museum 

and Savannah Adjvertizer," Dec. 33, 

180O. 
Tj Governor Jackson: 

I have read with sensations peculiar 
to the occasion your ofliciai aittack 
upon our private ppope(rty, acquired 
under the patent law of the United 
States, Ibut we have long doub-ed 
whether it were proper to ciommunicate 
these sensations to the public. 



48o 



APPENDIX. 



1\ has always appeared to us that che 
private pursuits of individual indus- 
try are entitled to the most saereld and 
inviolable protection of the laws, and 
that a g>ood cause where private right 
alone was concerned might suffer tri- 
vial injuries wiithoub acquiring' theclaim 
to be presiented toefore the siolemn trib- 
unal of public opinion. But wihen t.hs 
iitle to our property is slamidered and 
political persscudon openly oomtmencsd 
affainst us under pretence of official 
duty ^y our chief magistrate, silence 
on our part miight be supposed t)o sanc- 
tion the abuse. TIhe urgency of the 
oase must, thereforie, ibe our apology 
for meeting your excellency on this 
gr<ound, land in making a defence of our 
property right, we shall draw a veil 
over the pa-ssiions which have br*oug'.it 
ii into question, and, pa'ssing over the 
dfegradeid condition to which the State 
has beefi reduced, shall only ruotioe the 
measure in which we lare immediately 
implicated, and shall consull; the genius 
of our government rather than the acrs 
of your aidministratiion, to enaSble us to 
preserve towards you that respect to 
which your office is entitled. 

In the first place, your excellency WiU 
permit us to remove the deception 
which is palmed on the public to our 
disadvantage in the approbrious term 
"monoipoly." 'The respectable authors 
whose names were brought forward to 
sanction your opinion on this sub- 
ject speaJc of the exclusive right to 
carry on a trade or manufacture as a 
"n'ontopoly," and not of tihe pr^ote-ction 
which government chooses to give 
to the arts. The principle of the pat- 
ent law, your excellency will pleaise lO 
Orhserve, Consists of a fair coimpromise 
between the government and 't.he au- 
thor of the invention. There can be no 
doubt but what an inivention in .he 
arts must remain the exclusive right 
of the inventor unlder the most oppres- 
sive laws, while the secret »s co^nfined 



to him, and many instances have oc- 
curred of the preservation of the secret 
for years and even of its final loss to 
the public <;o the death Oif its inventor, 

fTo Teimedy which evil and tb sumu- 
iate ingenious men to vie with each 
other, governments, by emactinig patent 
laws, substantially agree that they will 
afford to the author of the invention 
the most ample protection in tihe use Jf 
his discovery for a certain telrm of 
years on condition that after that pe- 
riod it shall (become public property. 
And in carrjdng intto effect of all sue la 
discoveries, it is well-known that every 
inventor miust inouir the whiole expense 
and take on himsielf the entire risk of 
the success of his invention, in w^hich 
if he fails, his loss 'of time and money 
does not always conistit'ute his girea:- 
est mortification, and if (he succeeds, 
the public advantage must of necessity 
go hand in hand with his acquii^em^nts, 
since the inventor cannot expect his in- 
vention to be employed or paid for un- 
less it exceeds all others in point of 
utility. In the present case, we be- 
lieve the utility of our inventDon well 
known arid candidly admitted Toy all 
rational men. At the time it was 
brought forward, there were millions 
cf pounds of cotton in tihe seed, which 
awaited the event of slome improve- 
ment in the mode of iginning, and 
wealth, honor and gratitude were 
promised to she fortunate exertions of 
genius which would insure the culture 
of green seed cotton to the up-country. 

Under such flatteiring auspices and 
the protection of the law, the inventdon 
was perfected, and at great expense in 
money, which has /never been repaid, 
and of time and laboir, which is unr<i- 
warde(d, and nfow yoiur excellency 
would direct your influence to blast ihe 
harvest so hardly earned, and which 
for many years has waived in distant 
view and buoyed up our hopes under 
the existence of adversity and oppres- 



APPENDIX. 



481 



sion, which vvould ihave ibetter suited 
the perpetrators of vice than the in- 
dustiriious and successful impi'jviers of 
so useful isun art. 

rrhe idle stories which your excellency 
condescends t'o re'peat w'ith a vieiw of 
•dividing with soime other person the 
credit of the invention ape not new tio 
us, but' we always considered as harmless 
while they only served to aimuse some 
ingeniious mecihanic, but the place they 
hold in the executive message requires 
us to observe that we know of nio pre- 
tentions of this kind whioh Oan stand 
the smallest examination, and we chal- 
lenge the most distant pairts of Eur'ope 
and Asia ilo produce a model, or a well 
attested account of a machine for 
cleaning cotton upon the principle of 
ours, whiOh was known previaus to our 
invention. We have notevenosoertained 
that a single impiroivement has 'been 
made upon the machine, of which we 
have not ciomplete evidenoe of our pre- 
vious knowledge and experimental use. 
But 'Whether the form tihait we have 
aao'pted is t,he beet and deserves the 
preference to that in common use in the 
up-country, experienoe 'must determine. 
At present public opinion, we acknowl- 
edge, in this respect, to be against us. 

We have too igood lan opinion of the 
understanding of our ireaders tlo believe 
that they can .be amused by our follow- 
ing your excellency thurough the detail 
of our private concerns. W'e might as 
w eU claim public attention to oiur mode 
o.*' planting cotton or cleaning rice. Bu: 
we are not yet blessed with the vanity 
which can be made happy by t(he belief 
that our words and actions are woirthy 
of scrutiny, and that plain, upright 
ni'en have a right or wish to knoiw the 
exact proportion in whidh we divide our 
Hosses or emoluments with the gentle- 



men who thought proper to be interest- 
ed in our cooicarn. 

The altlernative which your excellen- 
cy suggests of paying- a moderate com- 
pensation tfo che patentees, oir suppress- 
ing the patent, appears iJo us to be in- 
judiciously chosen, fior in the first of 
these cases, if the bargain is to -be all 
on one side and the persons who would 
defraud us of our right are to be the 
sole judges of the co-mpensation to be 
made the oppression would be too man- 
ifest; and the proposition of suppress- 
ing the patent is so bold a tihing that 
w£ fioi^bear giving it comtnent. 

Of the sum of money which we are 
likely to make on our invention, we do 
not pretend to judge, but should be 
highly :gratified if the prediction of 
your excellency should be justified by 
tht event; should it, howevler, turn out 
(Otherwise and should this public in- 
stance of persecution and slander prove 
greatly to our disadvantage, we pc'r- 
suade ourselves that your (excellency 
has too higih an opinion of the equal 
nghts of 'men to be unwilMng to sub- 
mit to a c^ouirt of justice the extent of 
the responsibility that you have taken 
on yourself. Appealing as we do to 
the candor and liberality of our fellow 
citizens for t,he justice of oiur cause and 
for the consistency of Our corKdiuct, we 
repeat our assurances that we have ap- 
peared (before them with regriet, and 
hope that it may be the laist tiime that 
sc much of your excellency's atten- 
tion will 'be devotldd to the pirivate con- 
cerns of your constituents, and more 
particularly .if those who are so desir- 
ous of peaceably pursuing their occu- 
pati'o-n, as your obendient servnants. 
Signed, 
MILLER & WHTTXET. 



Document XII. 



LAWS 

OF 

NORTH CAROLINA. 



At a General Bssembl^?, begun and held at IRaleiQb, on the fif- 
teenth Day of November, in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Eight 
Hundred and two, and in the Twenty-seventh Year of the Independence 
of the said State. 



JAMES TURNER, ESQUIRE, GOVERNOR. 



CHAP. I. 

An Act to carry into effect a Contract between the State of North Carolina, and Phineas 

Miller and Eli Whitney. 



WHEREAS Eli Whitney, the inven- 
tor and patentee of a machine for 
cleaning cotton from the feeds, common- 
ly called a Saw-Gin, has propofed and 
offered, in behalf of himself and Phin- 
eas Miller, assignee, of one moiety of 
the patent-rig-ht lo faid machine, to fell 
to the State )f r^urth-CaroUna, :he fole 
and exclusive right of making, uiin^ 
and vending the faid machine within 
the limits of this State: And whereas 
the cultivation of cotton is incxeanng 
in this State, and from the invention 
and ufe of faid machine, lilcely to be- 
come a valuable ftaple article of ex- 
portation, it is expedient that the SLate 
of North Carolina do purchafe from the 
faid Miller and iWhitney, the patent- 
right to the making, ufing and vending 
the faid new invention of a machine 
for cleaning cotton from its feeds, com- 
monly called a Saw-Gin, on the terms 
and conditions hereinafter mentioned; 
that is to fay, that there fhaU be laid 
and collected by the State of Norlh- 
Carolina, on each and every faw-gin 
which fhall be ufed in this State, be- 
tween the pafiing of this act and the 
firft day of April next, a tax of two 



fhillings and fixpence upon every faw, 
or annular row of teeth, which fuch gin 
may contain; and a tax of two 
fhillings and fixpence for each and 
every faw, or annular row of teeth, 
which fhall be ufed in faid gins, in each 
and every year, for the term of five 
years thereafter. F*rovided, that the 
aforesaid Miller and Whitney, before 
they fhall receive, or be entitled to re- 
ceive any of the money collected by 
virtue of this act, fhall produce their 
patent-right aforesaid, and fatisfy the 
Treafurer that they are the true pro- 
prietors of the fame; which tax, when, 
collected, to be paid to the faid Miller 
and Whitney, or their order, firfi de- 
ducting the Sheriff's ufual commiffions 
of lix per cent, for collection, from year 
to year for the term aforefaid: The 
firft payment to be made on the firft 
day of December, in the year of our 
Lord one thoufand eight hundred and 
three, and the laft payment on the firft 
day of November, in the year of our 
Lord one thoufand eight hundre.l and 
eight: For which pxirpofe. 

Be it enacted by the General Affem- 
******* * * 



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DAIRYING AND BREEDING. 



From Bidlcthi A^o. 24. Alabaina Experiment Statio7i. 



This bulletin is not intended to make 
every land-owner and cotton-raiser an 
exclusive dairyman, nor is it presumed 
in its presentation to attempt to cover 
the wide and important field of dairy- 
ing. Its object is to mainly throw 
out a few suggestions for the careful 
consideration of the farmers of the 
State, as well as to give some practical 
thoughts and demonstration of facts 
from our experience as a breeder of 
Jersey cattle. It is exceedingly unfor- 
tunate that the masses of our farmers 
are so -ill-informed on this matter. 
But few of them read a dairy or stock 
paper of any sort, hence have no 
knowledge of many important facts 
with reference to stock breeding and 
its management. It is with the hope 
of instructing this class of farmers 
that we propose to send out this bul- 
letin. 

Let me beg you not to conclude, be- 
cause you do not own a fine herd of 
Jersey or other pure bred cattle, that 
this is of no interest to you. If you 
own only one cow it will pay you to 
inform yourself as how best to manage 
and feed her, and if together with se- 
curing this information you will pro- 
cure, at reasonable cost, recently im- 
proved appliances for butter making, 
your wife, who generally has the bulk 
of the work to do in this department, 
will rise up and call you blessed. So 
then subscribe at once for some good 
stock and dairy paper and learn from 
the practical experience of others how 
to feed and manage your cows, and 
the best process of making butter 
with the least cost and labor. 

The great majority of farmers of 



Alabama own from six to eight milch 
cows, others own many more, and a 
few none. It is frequently the case 
that a man milking five cows does not 
make a pound of butter for sale. The 
first trouble is, most cotton producers 
own too many cattle. Sell off all your 
non-paying and worthless cows, and 
re-invest this money in more feed (\t 
you have not already a sufficient quan- 
tity on hand), a good comfortable 
stable for the cow, and a few, at least, 
of the many important dairy imple- 
ments. An impoi'tant step for the 
farmer who decides to improve his cat- 
tle is the purchase of a bull. 

Grading up your herd in the right 
way is of the first importance; and 
do not cherish for one moment the 
thought that you own in one of your 
native cows one that is superior to all 
others for inilk, butter and beef, "a 
general purpose cow," and propose to 
raise and use in your herd a bull calf 
from her. Tou do not own such a 
cow, nor ever will. 

If you want butter, buy a Jersey or 
Guernsey; if milk, Holstein or Ayr- 
shire; beef, Shorthorn or Hereford. 
There are other breeds worthy of note. 
These are used by way of illustration, 
as they have been bred for a specific 
purpose for a long time; and the buyer 
when he gets a representative animal 
of either breed, knows what he is get- 
ting before he pays his money. Once 
in awhile there will appear a phenom- 
enal butter cow of the milk and beef 
breeds, or a phenomenal milker of the 
butter breeds. Pay no attention to 
this, it is the breed you are after, 
backed by indisputable performance 



APPENDIX. 



487 



"both at the pail and at the churn. 

There are plenty of reliable breeders 
of the different breeds that will sell 
you a bull at a reasonable figure. Fifty 
dollars will buy a very good bull, oni 
hundred dollars a much better one. It 
may be that you cannot afford this 
outlay, as you have but few cows; in 
this case your neighbors can join you. 
Co-operate; use your order, the Alli- 
ance. First, decide on the breed; 
next, buy as near home as you can, 
thus avoiding acclimating fever. If 
you cannot find what you want in your 
own State, then go out of It. Get the 
best. The bull is half the herd, and 
under no circumstances use a grade. 

Get your natives in good condition 
and test each cow by the churn. The 
cow giving the largest flow of milk 
does not always make the most but- 
ter. Quite often the very reverse is 
true. Continue along to weed out, 
keeping the best until you breed a 
model dairy cow. 

What is a model dairy cow? One of 
■medium size, small head, full and 
placid eyes, neck long, thin and clean, 
broad hips and back of great breadth 
at the loins, large, roomy stomacli, 
short legs, large udder, medium siz'>>d 
well placed teats, tortuous milk veins. 
The escutcheons, like the solid color, i;? 
thought to be desirable by some, but 
many good deiry cows have first-class 
■escutcheons and others equally as good 
have very poor ones. 

The cow when well fed should, of 
course, give a large quantity of good 
rich milk. 

Do not be a "stickler" on color or 
size, or decide to let a cow remain in 
your herd because she has a good es- 
cutcheon and pretty horns. If she only 
weighs 600 pounds, is as black as a 
crow, and has neither escutcheon or 
"horns, but yields the butter, keep her. 
You want the cow that will produce 
the most butter at the least cost. 
Beware of in-and-in bresdin?: p rhaps 



you have already paid dearly for it. 
With perfect animals on both sides and 
in the hands of a skillful breeder it 
may do, but as now practiced, it is 
ruinous, and why should you in-breed 
so much? There is no necessity for It. 
Breed to the winner, and it is not out 
of place to say that this Experiment 
Station has been practicing in-and-in 
breeding for a number of years with 
a small herd of Jersey cattle, the 11 
effects of which can be seen by any 
practical breeder. The old cows are 
still the best, and one of the last heif- 
ers that come in milk young and which 
is intensely in-bred, had no fore udder 
at all. The foundation stock is ie- 
ficient here. The experiment has 
proven conclusively, both in form and 
at the churn, that unless you have 
perfect animals on both sides to start 
with, and you are skilled, it is best not 
to undertake it. 

If you have no barn, and no means 
to build one, make a shed, plank up 
the north and west sides, have separ- 
ate stalls or fastenings for each cow, 
either stanchion or halter, and do not 
allow them to run all over your cow 
pen, as practiced by most farmers. 
Take your calves away from the cows 
at four to six weeks old. Feed your 
cows well. The most costly thing ••n 
a dairy farm is a poor cow. Milk and 
feed regularly, make them comfortable 
(this word implies a great deal), and 
with kind treatment, they are certain 
to respond. 

Feed-tables are sometimes given to 
show you how much feed to use. Re- 
member that it requires more than «i 
maintenance ration, and that you can- 
not get good results from raw cotton 
seed and shucks, for instance. 

Many farmers have asked, "how io 
you raise your calves?" We practice 
hei-e the following plan: The first milk 
from the cow's udder acts as a physic, 
and the calf should be allowed to take 
It. When the calf is four days old. 



488 



APPENDIX. 



separate it from its mother; after 12 
hours of fasting, take a couple of 
quarts of its mother's milk, warm 
from the cow, dip the fore and middle 
fingers into the milk and insert into 
the calf's mouth. If it is very unruly 
back into corner of the stable and get 
straddle of the calf's neck. Repeat this 
until the calf sucks the fingers. Do 
not lose your patience. It is certain to 
throw up its head. Lower it until the 
mouth comes in contact with the milk 
in the pail, and when it begins to 
drink the milk, gradually withdraw 
the fingers from the mouth. The calf 
will continue to throw up its head 
many times, but with patience, repeat 
the process until tne calf continues to 
drink the milk after the fingers are 
withdrawn. It will generally do this at 
the third or fourth trial. Two quarts 
of milk three or four times a day is all 
that it will take for the first three 
weeks. At the end of this time, add a 
gill of sweet skimmed milk, heated to 
blood heat (98 degrees) to each feed, 
twice per day, and 12 hours apart until 
the quantity is increased to three 
quarts. Continue this for ten days, 
then decrease the new milk one gill ^it 
feed until no new milk is given; at 
the same time increase the warm skim- 
med milk half a pint at a feed until U 
reaches a gallon. Skim the milk after 
it sets 12 hours, and always feed it 
blood warm and while -- is perfectly 
sweet. The great object in thus chang- 
ing so gradually from new to skimmed 
milk, is to avoid the "scours." Bright 
hay or fodder snould always be acces- 
sible after a few weeks old. Corn and 
oats mixed may be put in the feed 
trough; the calf will soon learn to eat 
and chew its cud. Keep the calves in 
a dry, clean stable with plenty of pure 
water and salt when a few months old. 
At seven months, take the milk entirely 
away, and continue to feed and let 
them run on in good pastures. Breed 
at 18 months old. We use linseed meal 



here with the milk to raise our calves. 

At present the cows at this station 
are fed at 5:30 a. m., and 4:30 p. m. 
The first thing in the morning is to 
clean and sweep the stables. The cows 
are then fed and groomed, udders 
brushed carefully, and with a clean 
rag and bucket of tepid water, washed 
and wiped dry with a clean towel. The 
milker is now ready for business, and 
with clean hands and short finger 
nails, he goes at his job with both 
hands quickly and quietly. The millc 
is weighed from each cow and a record 
is kept. It is then strained through 
a wire cloth strainer into a ten-gallon 
can and carted to the dairy. The de- 
tails of our method have been given in 
order to show that good butter-making 
must begin at the barn. 

When no experiments are being car- 
ried on, we feed an ensilage, and one- 
third each of corn meal, ground oavs 
and bran, giving what the cows will 
eat clean. 

It may be of interest to many farm- 
ers that we give a short, plain and sim- 
ple way how we make butter. We have 
the facilities for making good butter, 
viz: a good dairy hand-power sepa- 
rator, cooling creamer, ripening vat, 
butter worker, print, etc., besides an 
automatic fermenting can and auto- 
matic ripening vat, and a good well of 
pure water, though not cold. 

After the milk is carried to the daii-y 
it is run through a hand-power sepa- 
rator. The cream is at once cooled 
down to 55 degrees, placed in a 
creamer, and kept sweet until enough 
cream is gathered for churning. It is 
then poured into a cream vat to ripen, 
kept at a temperature of 70 degrees, 
and well stirred during the ripening 
period. As soon as it is slightly acid, it 
is ready for churning. Cool down to 
62 degrees, scald out the churn well, 
and pour in the cream. When the 
granules of butter are the size of wheat 
grains, the churn is stopped and rinsed 



APPENDIX. 



489 



down with a gallon of cold water (56 
degrees). A few swings of the churn, 
and the butter-milk is ready to lie 
drawn off. Wash the butter with about 
the same quantity of cold water as you 
have butter-milk; in two washings the 
water is clear. Tilt the churn to one 
side and let the butter drain thorough- 
ly. It is then taken up and placed on a 
butter tray, weighed and salted, one 
ounce to the pound. Put on the 
worker, and work only enough to dis- 
tribute the salt. Print into one-pound 
prints, wrap with parafflne paper, and 
forward to the consumer. When mak- 
ing butter in this way, we stir the 
cream. Never mix sweet and sour 
cream. Ice is necessary in summer. 

What to do with the milk is an im- 
portant question, and one you must 
decide for yourself. There is more 
money lost by the farmers of Alabama 
between the milk pail and the churn, 
through ignorance and carelessness 
than they are aware of. You fail to 
get money out of your cows by im- 
proper feeding and handling, then after 
you get the milk, a large per cent, is 
lost by manipulation, by having only 
few, if any, of the improved dairy im- 
plements and no dairy proper. This is 
to be expected. Stop and reflect 
whether you can afford to do this any 
longer; you say that a dairy is costly, 
and it generally is, but this is not the 
kind that the cotton raisers need. Buy 
the right sort of dairy goods, and a 
cheap structure will answer your pu'-- 
poses. Is not your milk carried now 
from the "cow-pen" to the house cold, 
and the cream on top strained into jars 
and set away to turn. As the weather 
continues cold, are not the jars trans- 
ferred from your faulty cellar or shed 
room to the family room or kitchen, 
there to remain two, three, and some- 
times four days? Tour wife tui-ns the 
jars to the fire often during the day, 
and the milk will not turn, and all the 
while it is getting spoiled. She gets 



disgusted and attempts to churn it, 
and with a dash churn begins. Gener- 
ally she knows what to expect. Not 
having a thermometer, the boiling 
water is poured in, and something that 
you call butter is taken out. The fer- 
menting can and cream ripening vat 
will do away with this, and if you will 
visit this station, as you should, we will 
convince you on this point. A little 
money expended for dairy goods will 
furnish you the means for making a 
good article of butter and will be a 
great relief to your over-worked wife. 

The actual cost of feeding will vary 
in different portions of the State. 
Each farmer knows what he can grow 
in the section in which he lives. Bai-- 
ley, rye, corn, millet, sorghum, peas, 
cotton seed and in many sections of 
our State, the clovers and grasses 
grow to perfection. Those farmer's 
who intend to increase the number of 
dairy cattle to 20 or 25 milch cows 
should by all means build a silo. 
Corn pea-vine ensilage is the most nu- 
tritous and cheapest feed we have. 
Try it. 

The attention of farmers is called to 
the following maxims, derived from my 
own experience and that of other prac- 
tical dairymen 

Feed your cows twice per day, at 
regular intervals, and have pure water 
and salt always accessible. 

You do not need a dog to drive up 
dairy cattle. 

A dairy cow does not need as much 
exercise as a trotting horse. 

A cow with good escutcheon and 
nothing else should be butchered. 

A yellow skin we like to see, but it 
is not always a true index to the colar 
of the butter. The butter from a pale- 
skin cow is often yellow. 

Your "scrub" cows are averaging 
you not more than 100 to 125 poun.ls 
of butter per year. You should try to 
double this yield. 

The cow likes a variety of food; 



I 



490 



APPENDIX. 



gratify her taste as often as you can. 

The winter dairy pays best, therefore 
breed the most of your cows in Decem- 
ber and January, and they will be fresh 
in September and October following. 

Decide on the breed and stick to it. 

There are many worthless cows in 
every breed. 

The cow is a machine for the manu- 
facture of milk and butter, and the 
stomach is the bast laboratory in 
world for this purpose. 

There are many ways to test the ri h- 
ness of a cow's milk besides the churn; 
and every dairyman should have a 
tester. The farmer can use the churn 
if he prefers to do so. 

In ordering your dairy goods, the 
first thing to put on your list is a 
thermometer. It is more reliable than 
your wife's forefinger. 

One ounce of salt to the pound of but- 
ter is our rule, but always try to salt 
to please your customers. 

It is much better to wash the milk 
out of the butter while in the churn 
than to work it out on the worker. 

It is impossible for you to be too 
clean, either at the barn or dairy. 

Keep your milk out of the kitchen; 
it absorbs all the bad odors and your 
customers will complain of the flavor. 

Set aside your old dash churn, and 
buy a barrel, swing or box churn. 

Churn your cream when slightly 
acid, and do not put it off to suit your 
convenience. Here is where you lose 
money. 

Churning temperature, 62 degrees in 
summer; 64 degrees in winter. If you 
feed much cotton seed in winter you 
can get 68 or 70 degrees and it will do 
no harm. The lower the better. 

You cannot make a first-class artirle 
of butter by feeding cotton seed alone. 
They spoil the flavor. 

Cotton seed meal, or well steamed 
cotton seeds, fed in limited quantities 
in connection with other feed, will do 
no harm. 



The farmers of Alabama can have a 
succession of green crops almost from 
one end of the year to the other. Add 
to this, cotton seed meal, raw cotton 
seed, and hulls, with good ensilage, 
they can make butter very cheap. 

Raw cotton seed is like the sweet po- 
tato, it can be served in many ways. 
Place a high value on it and learn lo 
feed it the right way, but never to ex- 
cess. 

When the patent butter maker comes 
around, do not let his persuasive 
tongue induce you to buy a county 
right to manufacture his butter. He 
is a fraud; let him alone. 

Milk your cows ten months in the 
year. 

Rich food will decrease the quantity 
of milk, but will increase the amount 
of butter. 

The dairy business is a renovator, a 
restorer of worn out hands, and an edu- 
cator of those who engage in it. 



THE THEORY OF CATTLE FEEDING 

The chapters on fertilizers have 
shown in detail the theory of fertiliz- 
ing, or the feeding of lands. The chap- 
ter on cattle feeding has confined itself 
mostly to the practical facts, without 
elaborating the theory. A brief con- 
sideration of the theoretical aspects of 
the question is here submitted. 

There is a considerable similarity be- 
tween feeding lands and feeding cattle. 
In both cases, the purposes to be ac- 
complished (by the land or the cattle), 
must determine the amount and char- 
acter of the feeding. Certain propor- 
tions of the fertilizing chemicals are 
best suited for certain crops, and cer- 
tain proportions of feeding chemicals 
are best suited for fattening stock; 
other proportions for milk production, 
and still others for work animals. 

The recognized elements in feeding 
stuffs are principally (1) protein, (2) 



APPENDIX. 



491 



carbohydrates, (3) fat. Other elements 
are water and ash. 

Protein contains about 16 per cent, 
nitrogen, and the nitrogen is the im- 
portant part from the standpoint of 
cost. This substance is consumed in 
the production of blood, muscle, milk, 
wool, hair, etc. 

Carbohydrates and fat are fuels, 
which are consumed by the animal 
mechanism, primarily to produce 
warmth and power, and incidentally to 
«tore up surplus fat. The term "car- 
bohydrates," as here used, includes the 
two items discussed in some works as 
""nitrogen — free extract," and "crude 
fibre." Both of these consist of car- 
bon and hydrogen, and hence, for pur- 
poses of discussion as feed constituents, 
they are properly classed as carbohy- 
drates. 

The small amount of ash required in 
a feed is present in small quantities in 
all feeding stuffs. It is also supplied in 
salt. Its use in the animal economy is 
mostly for the building of bone. 

Different feeding stuffs contain these 
three different essentials in varying 
amounts, and in varying degrees of 
availability or digestibility. 

In tabulating the proportions of in- 
gredients, only the digestible portion is 



considered. But in practice it is neces- 
sary always to have sufficient bulk, or 
in other words, the nutritive elements 
must be sufficiently dilute. For some 
reason, the process of assimilation goes 
on better when the animal's stomach is 
sufficiently distended. On this account, 
most tables contain an item "dry mat- 
ter," which, in common with other 
items, is an indication of the bulki- 
ness of the feed. 

While carbohydrates and fat per- 
form practically the same function as 
a feed, yet their relative value for this 
purpose is not the same; and in consid- 
ering the two together under the same 
head, it is necessary to make an allow- 
ance to bring them to the same unit. 
It has been found by experiment that 
the value of fat is about 21 times the 
value of carbohydrates. Hence, in the 
tables the actual percentage of fat has 
been multiplied by 24 and added to the 
carbohydrates. The ratio between this 
combination and the protein is known 
as the "nutritive ratio." 

The following table gives the average 
percentage composition, and the nutri- 
tive ratio, and relative feed value of 
some of the most common feeding 
stuffs: 



492 



APPENDIX. 



TABLE XIX. 
SHOWING COMPOSITION OF SOME COMMON FEEDING STUFFS. 



FEED. 



{I. V 



« 



41 u 



Per Cent. Digestible. 



Carbohy- 
drate and 
Equiv. Fat 



i-^ 



Cotton Seed Meal. 

Linseed Meal 

Cow Peas 

Alfalfa Hay 

Oats 

Clover Hay 

Corn 

Timothy Hay 

Corn Stover 

Cotton Seed Hulls 



$24.16 
21.88 
21.20 
15.24 
17.72 
12.84 
22.72 
14.12 
10.16 
9.96 



92 
90 

80 
92 
89 
85 
89 
87 
60 
90 



37 

29 

19 

10 

9 

6 

8 

3 



1.2 
1.6 
2.8 
4.3 
5.9 
6.5 
9.0 
15.7 
17.0 
70.0 



This table is not to be taken as abso- 
lutely correct for any particular local- 
ity. It is compiled from a large num- 
ber of sources, and represents a fair 
average of the well authenticated re- 
ports made by the several State ex- 
periment stations. 

The column headed "relative feed 
value per ton," has been computed 
from average values determined at dif- 
ferent times by me Connecticut sta- 
tion, and is 1.60 cents per pound for 
protein, and 1.40 cents per pound for 
carbohydrates. This valuation must be 
taken only as an approximation, and 
only as of relative importance. The 
stations all differ on this point. 

The feeding stuffs have been ar- 
I'anged in the table with reference to 
the "nutritive ratio." Cotton seed meal 
Is seen to possess the lowest or "nar- 
rowest" ratio, while cotton seed hulls 



possess the "widest" ratio. This means 
that cotton seed meal contains more 
and hulls less protein in proportion to 
other ingredients than anything else in 
the table. Hence in mixing a proper 
ration, the two extremes form a logical 
coinbination. 

The Germans have made great study 
of the science of feeding, and they 
have developed what is called "feeding 
standards." By this is meant the 
PTper nutritive ratios to feed to vari- 
ous animals to produce certain results. 
It is sometimes tabulated in a way to 
show the number of pounds of each, 
nutritive ingredient that should be sup- 
plied for each 1,000 pounds of live 
weight. 

The following table gives an idea of 
feeding standards considered about 
right for various purposes: 



APPENDIX. 



493 



TABLE XX. 
SHOWING FEEDING STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN PURPOSES. 



ANIMAL. 


Digestible Nutrients : Pounds 

per Day, per 1,0.0 lbs. 

live weight 


Nutritive 




Protein. 


Carbohydrate and 
Equiv. Fat. 


Ratio. 
Ito 




3.2 
2.8 
25 
2.5 


16.0 
15.0 
16.3 
14.3 


5.0 
5.4 
6.5 
5 7 


" '■ 6 to 12 months old 


Milk Cow 







The use of this table, together with 
Table XIX., may be illustrated by cal- 
calculating- a ration for a fattening 
steer weighing 1,000 pounds. Table 
XX. requires 2.5 pounds protein. Table 
XIX. shows cotton seed meal contains 
37 per cent protein, hence there will be 
required (2.5 divided by .37) 6.8 pounds 
of meal. The table calls for 16.3 pounds 
of carbohydrates. The meal contains 
(6.8 multiplied by .44) 3. pounds, hence 
13.3 pounds may be supplied by hulls 
(13.3 divided by .35) 38 pounds and a 
good ration would be say 7 pounds 
meal and 38 pounds hulls. On this 
ration, the steer ought to gain about 
3 pounds weight per day. 

It will be seen from the table that a 
milk cow requires very nearly the same 
ration as the fattening steer. With this 
feed she ought to give about 22 pounrls 
of milk per day. 

But the disposition of the fertilizing 
values that are in the feeds are difffer- 
ent in the two cases. In the case cf 
the fattening steer, very little of the 
nitrogen (in the protein fed) is re- 
tained. About 95 per cent, of it is 
voided, (22 in the solid and 73 in the 
liquid excrement). There is no nitro- 
gen or protein in the composition of 
fat meat. On the other hand, the cow 
uses about 25 per cent, of the actual 



digestible protein that is fed. Milk is 
rich in protein. Protein contains all the 
nitrogen in the feed, and hence the 
manure from fattening steers is move 
valuable than from milk cows. 



GENERAL NOTES ON CATTLE AND 
FEEDING. 

LENGTH OF FATTENING PERIOD. 

The Kansas experiment station 
found that in fattening steers on grain, 
the cost per pound for fattening in- 
creased after two months. 

Actual practice in feeding cotton 
seed meal and hulls, throughout the 
South shows that it is not generally 
profitable to^ feed steers for fattening 
longer than three months. 

AGE OF STEERS FOR FATTENING. 
All stations agree that the younger 
the steer, the more rapid the increase 
of weight, and the less cost per pound 
for fattening. 

AMOUNT OF FEED PER 100 
POUNDS GAIN IN WEIGHT. 
The average amount of a balanced 
ration required under normal condi 
tions to produce a gain of 100 pounds 
in live weight, during the fattenin.^ 
period is about 1,500 pounds. 



494 



APPENDIX. 



CHANGE OF DIET. 

Milk cows relish changes of diet, and 
they prosper on it, when not too laili- 
cal. But steers while being fattened 
will be content with the same diet 
throughout the period. Any radical 
change is sure to be detrimental. The 
Ohio station experimented on chang- 
ing steers from pasturage to stall feed- 
ing, and vice versa. The change al- 
ways reduced the rate of per diem in- 
crease. 

PROPORTION OF HULLS AND 

MEAL. 

The Texas station claims that th3 
proportion of hulls and meal for fat- 
tening steers should be adjusted on the 
basis of the costs of these feeds, and 
that the cost of the hulls in a ration 
should be the same as the cost of the 
meal. For example, if meal is $20 per 
ton and hulls $4 per ton, then the aco- 
nomical ration should be in the pro- 
portion of twenty pounds of hulls to 
four pounds of meal, or five to one. 

These methods of determining the 
ration seem arbitrary and artificial, 
and should not be too implicitly fol- 
lowed. 

Experience shows that the best re- 
sults come from beginning with a 
wide nutritive ratio, say one pound of 
meal to six or seven pounds of hulls, 
and gradually narrowing this ratio to- 
wards the end of the feeding period to 
four pounds of hulls to one pound of 
meal. 

FEEDING UNDER SHELTER OR IN 
OPEN YARDS. 

The Kansas station made a number 
of experiments to determine the dif- 
ference between feeding cattle con- 
fined under shelter and feeding them 
when given liberty in the yard. 

Their results were somewhat neg- 



ative, for they could determine no 
difference in rate of gain under the two 
conditions; but they discovered that 
the cattle which were allowed liberty 
would consume about 12 per cent, more 
feed than those, in the stalls. 

These results should not be accepted 
as conclusive under all conditions. It 
depends upon the character of the ani- 
mals themselves, and upon the char- 
acter of the ground on which they are 
allowed to run. If the animals are 
wild and unruly, and are allowed per- 
fect liberty of action, there will be 
much fighting and consequent dam- 
age and loss of flesh. If the ground Is 
soft and not properly drained, the ani- 
mals will bog up and lose considerable 
flesh, on account of the extra exertion 
in running over such ground. Unruly 
animals should always be confined in 
stalls. Tamer animals might be al- 
lowed some liberty, but should always 
be provided with shelter which they 
can reach when they desire. 

There are some successful feeders In 
the Southeastern States, who make an 
open pen on a dry hillside, and in this 
pen have a large, cheap barn, entirely 
open at the bottom, so that the cattle 
may come and go to the feed troughs 
which are in this building. The upper 
story of the building is used for tlie 
storage of feed. 

In any and all cases, more care 
should be given to the saving of the 
manures. The open yard should be 
kept continually strewn with cut straw, 
dry leaves or any other absorptive veg- 
etable matter. Ihis will absorb «.he 
urine and will be trampled down, and 
will help conserve all the fertilizing 
elements. The money and care ex- 
pended on operating this kind of a fer- 
tilizer factory will bring better returns 
than any other department of farm in- 
dustry. 



INDEX. 



A 

ACCUMULATOR 318, 321 

Acid Phosphate 415 

Age for Fattening Steers 493 

Air Blast for Handling Seed 89 

Agricultural Legislation 196 

Alabama Dairying 486 

Alexander, B. P 210 

Amusements on Plantation 62 

Appendix 441 

Attrition Mills 33:) 

Automatic (Change Valve 325, 329 

B 

BALING Cotton 36, 40, 89-115 

Improvements 71, 98 

Bald Headed Seed 9 

Barrels for Oil 236, 360 

Battery of Gins 89 

Baume Hydrometer 353, 434 

Bedding Cotton 139 

Beef Cattle 372 

Bleaching Oil 358 

Bloom of Cotton 117,121 

Boll of Cotton 120-123 

Boll Worm 171 

Bolting Chest 341 

Boxes for Conveyor 244 

Bradford, Wm 12 

Breaking Up Lands 139 

Breeds Beef Cattle 384, 385 

Milk Cattle 388, 391 

Butter Cattle 393 

Brewei" 11 

Bull, Jesse £6 



Bulletin, Alabama 486 

Burden, Mrs 2 

Burglary, AVhi' ney's Shop 24 

Butter Cow 393 

Butter Making 486 



CAKE Cracker 336, 337 

Capacity Oil Mill Machinery 343 

Care of Cotton Seed 206 

CarpetrBag Government 191 

Cartwright 1 

Cattle Feeding 371-403, 490, 493 

Fever 403 

Manure 397, 417 

Quarantine 403 

Shed 373-377 

Caustic Soda 350 

Certification of Papers 

By James Madison 15 

Whitney Patent 23 

Bill of Injunction 25 

Holmes Patent 27 

Chain Elevator 247 

Change Valve on Press 323-331 

Change of Diet 494 

Chemical Analysis of Oil 345 

Of Cotton Plant 407 

Of Fertilizers 414 

Of Sulphuric Acid 434 

Choke Valve on Press 326 

Chronology of Cotton 6 

Classification and Spin. Qual. Cot- 
ton 176-181 

Classification of Oil 350 



INDEX. 



Cleaning- Cotton Seed 248 

Commercial Value of Fertilizer 420 

Commission Firms 183 

Compress 99 

Comptroller's Statement N. C. 484-485 
Composition of 

Feeding Stuffs 492 

Fertilizer 413-414 

Soils 406 

Cotton Seed 204, 214 

Sulphuric Acid 434 

Continuous Action Gin 31, 76 

Conveyors for Seed 243-246 

Condenser for Gin 66, 76, 89 

Corn Shucking 61 

Cost of 

Oil Mills 234 

Acid Chambers 436 

Fertilizer Factories 439 

Fertilizers 439 

Operating Oil Mills 217-221 

Operating Acid Chamber 435 

Operating Fert. Factories 439 

Picking Cotton 162 

Cotton. 

Baling 92-115 

Blooms 117 

Compress 94, 99 

Confiscation 183 

Crops 5 

Field 157 

Gin (See Gin). 

Harvesting 162, 165 

Market ,173 

Mills 192 

Option 439 

Planting 146-150 

Planting Syndicate , 189 

Planting Machine 135, 149 

Picking 161 

Picking Machine 165-169 



Production per Acre 201 

Sampler's Table 179 

Season 85 

Stalk Cutter 157 

Square 117 

Values 193 

Varieties 116 

Yield 125 

Cotton-Seed 201-208 

Hulls 222 

Huller 261-271 

I.inter 254-257 

Markets 205 

Meal 210, 372 

Machinery 243 

Mills 193-195 

Oil 199 

D 

DAIRY Cattle 384 

Dairying and Breeding 486 

Decree for Injunction 470 

Dehorning Cattle 376 

Delinting Machinery 225 

Depositions in Gin Suits 21 

Diet for Cattle 494 

Disc Cultivator 155, 161 

Disposition of Cotton Seed Products 

228, 335 

Documents. 

I. List of Gin Suits 443 

II. Whitney's Original Patent.. 444 

III. Whitney's Substituted Pat. 444 

IV. Letter About Pat. Office Fire 463 

V. Bill of Injunction 463 

VI. Holmes' Saw Gin Patent.... 471 

VII. Phineas Miller's Letter 473 

VIII. Whitney's Letter to Steb- 
bins 474 

IX. Abstract S. C. Records 475 

X. Message from Gov. of Ga. 478 



INDEX. 



XI. Whitney's Reply to Gov. of 
Georgia 479 

XII. N. C. Law Taxing Gins.... 483 

XIII. List of Taxes Collected, 

N. C 484-485 

Domestic Habits on Plantation.... 54 

Market for Hulls and Meal 401 

Draft on Soil by Cotton 126 

Dried Blood 425 

Dubrueil 2 

Dueling in the South 50 

Dust Room in Gin House 93 

Dyampert, John C 22 

E 

EARLY Steam Ginnery 4a 

Fertilizers 405 

Education of Negro 49 

Textile 194 

Elevators for Seed Cotton 82 

For Cotton Seed 246 

Equipment of 

Plantation 53 

Cotton Pickers 162 

Oil Refinery 365 

Eve, Dr. Joseph 2 

Extent of Plantations 53 

Experimental Cotton Picking Ma- 
chine 167, 169 

Export of Cotton Seed Products, 
238, 402 

F 

FATTENING Cattle 371 

Period 493 

Fatty Acids 346 

Feeding— Cattle 371, 494 

Under Shelter 494 

In Open Pens 381, 494 

Stuffs 492 

Theory 490 



Standards 493 

General Notes 493 

Feed per 100 lbs. gain 493 

Feeder for Cotton Gin 66 

Fertilizers 125, 405 

Fertilizer Manufacture 414 

Distributors 130, 141 

Mixer 422, 423 

Factory 437 

Filter Press 336, 355, 361 

Filtering Oil 336 

Fire in Patent Office 463 

Fire Protection 93, 207 

First Cotton Seed Oil Mills 210, 213 

Former for Cake 300 

Forsythe 11 

Fort, Arthur 20, 463 

Gang Plow 151, 161 

Q 

GIN 

-Cut Cotton SI 

House 32, 33, 83, 86, 93 

Driven from Below 80 

Monopoly Message 478 

Roller 2, 10, 72, 73, 178 

Saw 2, 3, 9, 31, 71. 80, 444, 471 

Patents 9, 444, 471 

Invention 9 

Ginnery — Compress 98-115 

Glue for Barrels 363 

Goodrich, Elizur 12, 20, 460 

Governor of Georgia 478 

Greene, Mrs Nat 11 

Grinding C. S. Meal 341 

Grading Oils 35^ 



H 



HABIT of Cotton Plant 120, 201 

Hargreaves. James 1 

Harrow 145 



INDEX. 



Handling Cotton 36, £9, 41 

Heating of Cotton Seed 207 

Heaters for Oil Mills 284-301 

Height of Cotton Plant 201 

Holmes. Hodgen 2, 20-22, 30,471 

Hoeing Cotton 156 

Huller 

Gin 77 

Feeder 273 

Knives 263 

Hulls 

For Feed 494 

For Fuel 222 

Hybridizing Cotton 119 

Hydraulic 

Packing 311, 313 

Power Pump 333 

Press 309, 312, 313 

Steam Pump 314, 319 

Valves 323-329 



IMMIGRATION 185, 196 

Improved Ginnery 69, 82 

Condition of Farmers 185 

Implements 158-161 

Insurance Rates 93 

Intermittent Gin 30, 76 

Introduction 1 

Invention of Saw Gin 9, 441 

Industrial Renaissance 192 

Insect Enemies of Cotton 166-176 

Injunction in Gin Suits 463 

Infringement Suits 16, 443 



JACKSON, Governor of Ga 478 

Jefferson, Thomas 12 



K 



KAINIT 416, 425 

Kincaid, Jas 320 

Knife Grinder 270 

Ku-Klux-Klan 63, 191 

L 

LABOR to Operate Gin 40, 44 

System on Plantation 52 

Saving on Plantation 65 

Late Cotton 181 

Large Oil Mills 231 

Laying Off Cotton Rows 140 

Laying By Crops 156-158 

Laws of N. C. on Gins 483 

Lee, Charles 20 

Leguminous Crops 400 

Letter, Miller to Whitney 473 

Whitney to Stebbins 474 

Whitney to Gov. Jackson 479 

Pat. Com. to Tompkins 463 

Lien Law 184 

Lint Cotton 120, 204 

Linting Cotton Seed 225,254' 

Linter Room 259 

List of Gin Suits 443 

Local ConsumDtion of Cotton 176 

Log Rolling 61 

Lyons, Nathan 26 



M 



MACHINERY 

In Oil Mill 213, 215, 237 

MacCarthy Roger 22 

Madison, James 12, 15 

Manufacturing 

Fertilizers ..'. 414 

Acid Phosphate 436 



INDEX. 



Sulphuric Acid 429 

. Oil 209 

Marketing Cotton 182-186 

Cotton Oil Products 228, 335 

Martin 210 

Management of Oil Mill 221 

Manure from Cattle 375 

Master and Slave 50 

Meal Mill 336, 339 

Message of Gov. of Ga 478 

Mexican Boll Worm 172 

Miller, Phineas 20, 26,473 

Milling Process for Oil 248 

Miners' Oil 359 

Mixing, Fertilizers 416, 421 

Modern Ciinnery 68, 93 

Screw Press 95 

Oil Mill.... 221 

Modification of Gins 79 

Mold for Hydraulic Packing 315 

N 

NEGRO 

As a Slave 47 

As a Freeman 65 

Suffrage 188 

New Orleans Oil Mill 210 

Nitrogen 411, 425 

Nitrate Soda 416, 425 

North Car. Purchase Gin Pat., 483-485 

Notes on Cattle Feeding 493 

Number of Saws in a Gin 79 

o 

OBJECTION to Round Bales. .. .105, lOi) 

Occupation on Plantation 58 

Oil Mills 195. 211, 215, 223, 229 

Press '. 309, 312, 313 

Refining 345 

Old Plantation Gin House 33, 91 

Horse Power 3 1 



Olmstead, Prof 22 

Olive Tree 209 

Olein 349, 359 

Opens Pens for Cattle 376, 494 

Overseer on Plantation 58 

P 

PATENT Office 

Fire 14. 463 

Drawings 17-19 

Paris Green for Insects 171 

Paraffine for Barrels 363 

Pendleton H 

Petition for Injunction 20,463 

Period for Fattening 493 

Peruvian Guano 405 

Phosphoric Acid 405, 421 

Phenolphthalein 346 

Pioneer Oil Mills 210 

Pickering, Timothy 20 

Picking Cotton 161 

Plant Food 13» 

Planting Cotton 146-150 

Plantation Home S'''. 65 

During War 63 

Tools 67 

Plows 126, 147 

Plowing Cotton 154-156 

Pneumatic Accumulator 318 

Cotton Elevator 82-87 

Political Revolution 68 

Portable Ginnery 59 

Potash 425 

Powell, John 20, 461 

Power, Horse 35^37, 44, 65 

Press 

Baling 66, 71, 90-115 

Square Bale 94 

Round Bale 102-115 

For Linters in Oil Mill 40 

For Oil 302, 309, 312, 313 



INDEX. 



Cloth ^ 332 

Preparation of Barrels 363 

Land 136 

Cotton for Market 32 

Production of Refinery 364 

Production and Price of Cotton 5 

Products of Cotton Seed 205 

Of Cotton Plant 209 

Profits of Plantation 52 

Of Cotton Culture 196 

Of Cattle Raisine- 379 

Profitable 

Size of Oil Mills 228-233 

Yield from Dairy 388 

Proportion of Hulls and Meal 494 

Public Ginnery 67 

Pump and Press Connection 331 

Purchase of Gin Patents 475, 483 

Pyrites 429 

Q 

QUALITY of Cotton Seed..... 207 

Of Oil 207 

Quantity of Oil in Seed 207 

Quarantine Regulations for Cattle 403 

R 

RANDOLPH, Edmund 12, 445, 462 

Range of Locality for Cotton 119 

Raw Material for Fertilizers 425 

Receiving Seed at Mill 248 

Refining Cotton Oil 345 

Replanting Cotton 152-154 

Restoration of Lands 192 

Of Political Order 192 

Revolving Box Press 93 

Riding Cultivator 153, 155 

Right Angle Conveyor Drive 245 

Right or Left Hand Gin 79 

Roller Gin 2, 10, 72, 178 

Rolls for Oil Mill 276 



Rotation of Crops 409 

Round Bales 102-115 

Royalty on Gins 28, 475, 483-486 



SAW Gin 2, 3, 9-31, 71-80 

Sampling Cotton 182 

Oil 350 

Sand and Boll Screen 249-253 

Scooter Plow 131 

Screening C. S. Meal 341 

Screw Press 32, 40 

Seabrook, W. B 20 

Sea Island Cotton 9, 204 

Sectional Rib Gin 79 

Seed Cotton 120 

Seed for Planting 149-150 

Seed Magnified 203 

Selection of Seed 178 

Separating Screen 272 

Conveyor 275 

Sheep Raising 398 

Shelter for Cattle 494 

Shipment of Oil 360 

Shovel Plow 131 

Silicate of Soda 360 

Size and Shape of Bales 89 

Slave Labor 32, 47 

Slave Loyalty 188 

Slave Quarters 57 

Small Oil Mills 231 

Soap Stock 357 

Soil for Cotton 125 

Soil Requirements 410 

Solubility of Fertilizers 415 

South Carolina Gin Rights 475 

Spectacular Cattle Fattening 371 

Speed of Oil Mill Machinery 343 

Spinning Jenny 1 

Spinning Wheel 55 

Spinning Quality of Cotton 176 



INDEX. 



Splenetic Fever 403 

Square Bale Ginnei-y Compress 9S 

Square of Cotton 117, 120 

Stalk Cutter 157, 161 

Standards for Feeding 493 

Stearin 349. 359 

Steam Cake Former 303 

Steam Ginnery 

43, 45. 59, 69, 82, 83, 86, S7, 93 

Steam Coils in Tanks 236 

Storage of Seed Cotton 85 

Of Cotton Seed 206, 226-228 

Stebbins, Jos 20, 21 

Substituted Patent 444 

Sub-Soiling Plow 135, 147 

Suction Fan Gin 85 

Suits for Infringement 443 

Sulphuric Acid 358, 431 

Sulphate of Ammonia 412, 425 

Sulky Plow 153 1 

Summary of Gin Evidence 28 

Sweep, Plow 131, 133. 154 

System of Agriculture 51 

Sylvanit 425 



TABLES 

I. Production and Price of Cot- 
ton 5 

II. Chronology of Cotton 6 

III. Estimated Value Cotton 
Picking Machine 166 

IV. Distribution Profits in Cot- 
ton Manufacturing 194 

V. Value of N. C. Cotton Crop 

if Manufactured 195 

VI. Product from 1 ton Seed in 
Early Oil Mills 217 

VII. Product from 1 Ton Seed in 
Present Oil Mills 218 

VIII. Product from 1 Ton Seed 

in Present Oil Mills 219 



IX. Product from 1 Ton Seed in 
Present Oil Mills 220 

X. Product from 1 Ton Seed in 
Present Oil Mills 221 

XI. Value of Seed from Ten Mil- 
lion Bales Cotton 224 

XII. Cost of Oil Mills 234 

XIII. Seed Crushed and Value 

of Products 242 

XIV. Speed and Capacity of 
Conveyor for Seed 246 

XV. Speed and Capacity of Oil 
Mill Machinery 343 

XVI. Chem. Analysis Cotton 
Plant 407 

XVII. Quantity Fertilizer Nec- 
essary 409 

XVIII. Commerc'l Sources Fert. 
Chemicals 413 

XIX. Composition of Feeding 
Stuffs 492 

XX. Feeding Standards 493 

Tankage 425 

Tank Cars 236 

Tanks for Oil Mills 335 

Tatternall, Gov 2 

Tax on Gins 484-485 

Tenant System 67, 186, 191 

Texas Fever 403 

Ginnery 87 

Oak Cotton 119 

Theory of Cattle Feeding 490 

Thermometer for Heaters 287 

Thinning Out Cotton 149 

Transportation and Uses of 

Cotton Seed Oil 235 

Cotton Seed Meal 239 

Cotton Seed Hulls 241 

Fertilizers 415 

Treatment of Whitney in the South 24 

Triple Heater 297-301 

Turn Plow 133, 147 

Types of Slaves 48 



INDEX. 



Good Beef Steer 385 

Scrub Beef Steer 389 

Good Milk Cow 391 

Good Butter Cow 393 

Scrub Milk Cow 395 

u 

UNIFORM Length of Staple 177 

Union League 191 

Unreliability of Negro 191 

Upland Cotton 9, 204 

V 

VALUATION of Products of Plan- 
tion 54 

Value in 

Cotton Seed 195 

Oil Mill Products 232 

Hujls and Meal 372 



w 

WASHINGTON, George 

12, 20, 445, 462, 472 

Washing Oil 356 

Walking Cultivator 151. 161 

Weight of Cotton Seed 202 

Wet Cotton Seed 207 

Cotton 81 

Mix Fertilizer 438 

White Supremacy 64 

Whitney, Eli, 2, 11, 13, 17, 19, 21, 24, 
29, 429, 444, 474 

Winter Oil 359 

Wooden Screw Press 90 

Work Required on Cotton 158 



TTFLD of Cotton Plant 12» 

Oil from Seed 214-221 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

(otton Mill Processes and (diculatlons. 

312 Pages. 52 Original Illustrations. 

PRICE, S5.00. 

This is a book for the Mill Superintendent, the Overseer, and. tha 
Student who wants to learn the details of the business of running a 
cotton mill. It is written in simple style, and without the use of algebra. 
Anyone who understands the simple rules of arithmetic, may easily master 
it. It is profusely illustrated with original drawings. 



IRotices of tbc pixee. 



Cotton Mill Processes and Calculations is in every respect a notable work. 
* * No man is better qualified to utilize experience and profit by its lessons 
than Mr. Tompkins. * * From our acquaintance with his remarkable faculty 
of making- a difficult subject seem clear and simple, we feel safe in predicting- 
that his book will find ready sale. — Norfolk Landmark. 

Destined to make its impress, and that for g-ood and usefulness, upon the 
young men of the South especially. — Raleigh Post. 

One of the best books ever published in the South. * * A perfect elemen- 
tary text-book. * * This book may be said to mark a milepost in the industrial 
history of North Carolina. — Raleigh News and Observer. 

A book of inestimable value to any and every one engaged in the manufac- 
ture of cotton. * * Mr. Tompkins has rendered an invaluable service to the 
cotton manufacturing- industry. * * — Wilniington Star. 

Nothing more timely in character has appeared in years, and beneficent prac- 
tical results cannot fail to accrue therefrom. * * While this splendid work is 
designed chiefly to meet the demands of textile schools, it may also prove of 
paramount service to every one interested, either directly or indirectly, in the 
manufacture of cotton. * * Mr. Tompkins writes not from the mercenary 
impulse of one who merely wants to make mone)'. * * — Atlanta Constitution 

Mr. Tompkins understands cotton manufacture, and his book will meet a 
demand that has long been felt in the South. * * It embodies the results of 
both scientific study and practical experience. — Atlanta Journal. 

Mr. Tompkins treats cotton manufacturing from a new standpoint, i. e., 
letting daylight through the whole subject. He has evidently gone to great 
expense. * * An invaluable work for the 3'oung man learning the mill business, 
as well as a comprehensive guide to the overseer and superintendent. — Textile 
Excelsior. 

Order from D. A. TOMPKINS, Charlotte, N. C. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 



(otton Mill (ominerdal MWa 

240 Pages. 70 Original Illustrations. 



PRICE. $5.00. 



This. is a book for the prospective investor. It discusses in detail all 
the points that are raised in organizing a new mill. It shows the cost of 
mills of various kinds. It elaborates the plans for organizing companies 
and for raising capital. 

It shows how to keep mill accounts and reports. It shows cost of 
production for all the common kinds of goods manufactured in the South. 
It shows how goods are sold by the mills. It gives advice about location 
and surroundings. It discusses textile education, and shows how a young 
man should proceed to learn the cotton mill business. It is profusely 
illustrated with original drawings and fine half-tones made expressly for 
this work. 

This book was written as an answer to large numbers of letters, enquir- 
ing about the steps necessary to organize and build a new mill. There are 
so many factors which enter into a conscientious answer to the question that 

nothing short of a book could give a comprehensive answer. '• Cotton Mill 
Commercial Features " gives the answer in every detail. 



Order from D. A. TOMPKINS, Charlotte, N. C. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 

mmrn mmn 

ITS EXPANSION. 

154 Pages. 



PRICE, $1.00. 



J HIS is a collection of addresses and pamphlets relating to the extension 
^ of foreign markets for American manufactures. The cotton factories 
of the United States, and, indeed, most other industries which have reached 
^n advanced stage of growth, are now manufacturing more goods than can 
possibly be consumed in our home markets. It is, therefore, necessary for 
the maintenance of our present position that we reach out for the markets 
of the world. How much more necessary is it, when we are continually 
■building factories! 

The nations of the world either progress or go backward. If we are 
to progress, we must learn to cater to foreign markets. 

The book is a discussion of the ways and means for accomplishing 
these ends. All manufacturers should be interested in it. 

Order from D. A. TOMPKINS, Charlotte, N. C. 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR. /^a 




ile fabrki 



PRICE, $2.50. 



I HIS is a collection of actual samples of cloth, with descriptive matter 

^ and data, showing cost per yard and per pound. These costs are then 

tabulated in a way to show what the average cotton crop of the State of 

Xorth Carolina would bring if manufactured into the various kinds of 

goods shown. 

When this crop of 500,000 bales was sold as raw cotton, at an average 
value of 6 cents per pound, the total income to the people of the State from 
this source was $15,000,000. 

But now that a large part of this crop is being turned into various 
manufactured products, it is a matter of interest to speculate on the real 
possibilities of the case. 

The cheapest sample shown in this collection is common heavy Duck,, 
which sells for 14 cents per pound. If the whole 500,000-bale crop were 
manufactured into this goods and sold at that price, the income would be 
$35,000,000 instead of $15,000,000. 

Other samples and figures show that there is an easy possibility of five 
billion dollars in a half million bale crop, if sufficient skill and industry 
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This book does not enter into methods of developing the skill and 
industry, but merely points out what immense resources are latent in cot- 
ton. 

Other books by this author show how the work may be accomplished. 

Order from D. A. TOMPKINS, Charlotte, N. C. 



ii^y^. 



gJJJjRV OF CONGRESS 



